Thomas Hardy 
Tess of the D »Urbervilles 

 »The greatest tragic writer among the English novelists » Virginia Woolf
With its depiction of the wronged  »pure woman » Tess and its powerful criticism of Victorian hypocrisy, Tess of the D »Urbervilles is one of the most moving and poetic of Hardy »s novels. When its heroine, Tess Durbeyfield, is driven by family poverty to claim kinship with the wealthy D »Urbervilles, meeting her  »cousin » Alec proves to be her downfall. A very different man, Angel Clare, seems to offer her love and salvation, but Tess must choose whether to reveal her past or remain silent in the hope of a peaceful future.
Edited with notes by TIM DOLIN and an Introduction by MARGARET R. HIGONNET