Virginia Woolf once called Thomas Hardy “the greatest tragic writer among English novelists.” Set against the serene British countryside, his atmospheric novels were often considered shocking upon their publication.
Returning to Egdon Heath from Paris, Clym Yeobright intends to settle down and improve the lives of his townspeople. But the alluring and mysterious Eustacia Vye has other plans. She believes Clym can provide the cosmopolitan life she craves, if only they return to Paris. When their ideals prove incompatible, desperation breeds tragedy, and lives are changed in ways Clym and Eustacia never could have foretold.
Like so many of Hardy’s masterpieces, The Return of the Native is both a rich character study and a critical examination of Victorian society.
