Christmas brings out the best and the worst in us, as can been seen in this evocative anthology. Among what Thomas Love Peacock calls the "many poetical charms in the heraldings of Christmas,"...

Impulsive, attractive Bathsheba Everdene not only owns a farm in Weatherbury - she owns the affection...

In a remote corner of early Victorian England, where traditional practices remain untouched by time, Bathsheba Everdene stands out as a beacon of feminine independence...

In one of his lighter dramas, Bathsheba, a beautiful, self-absorbed woman, lets two men court her to the point of destroying their lives as they fall victim to her amorous caprices.

Though tragic, this novel is laced with fine comic observation, and presents a rich portrait of rustic, 19th-century British life.

Jude the Obscure provoked such widespread anger that Hardy claimed it caused him to stop writing novels.

From its spectacular opening, the astonishing scene in which drunken Michael Henchard sells his wife and daughter to a passing sailor at a country fair...

In a drunken state, Henchard sells his wife and daughter at a fair, but years later, when he is the prominent Mayor of Casterbridge, the woman he sold returns with her daughter.

Clym Yeobright, a diamond merchant in Paris, returns to his home in Egdon where he falls in love with the sensuous Eustacia Vye.

In Edgon Heath, Clym Yeobright has returned from Paris and finds himself in a tale of doomed love, passion, alienation, and melancholy.

Eustacia Vye is a beautiful, commanding presence on England's Egdon Heath. Her longing for the glamour...

In Tess Durbeyfield, Thomas Hardy created one of the most tragic heroines of English literature. Against the backdrop of a changing and haunting landscape...

Hardy’s most striking and tragic heroine comes to life here as Tess, who, like himself, came from poverty.

In this outstanding novel, Hardy denies and challenges two traditional themes: first, the stain of unchastity can never be erased, and second, the pious possibility of purifying atonement.

As in his novels, Hardy drew on his life experiences to create realistic depictions of the darker side of what at first glance would seem an idyllic life.

The courtship of Anne Garland by her three suitors, the trumpet-major John Loveday, his sailor-brother Bob, and Festus Derriman of the yeoman’s cavalry, takes place against the larger-than-life backdrop of England’s conflict with Napoleon.

Structured to mirror the seasons of the year, this bright, cheerful story recounts the adventures...

In the people and the towns of Wessex, the soul of England is revealed with a keenness of understanding and a vividness of style that is unequaled in fiction.

This selection of Hardy's poetry does full justice to its humanity, integrity, humour and evocative power, ranging from charming anthology pieces...