Tess of the D'urbervilles: a Pure Woman

Publisher Marketing: The novel is set in impoverished rural Wessex during the Long Depression. Tess is the oldest child of John and Joan Durbeyfield, uneducated rural peasants; however, John is given the impression by Parson Tringham that he may have noble blood, since "Durbeyfield" is a corruption of "D'Urberville," the surname of a noble Norman family, now extinct. The news immediately goes to John's head. That same day, Tess participates in the village May Dance, where she meets Angel Clare, youngest son of Reverend James Clare, who is on a walking tour with his two brothers. He stops to join the dance, and partners several other girls. Angel notices Tess too late to dance with her, as he is already late for a promised meeting with his brothers. Tess feels slighted. Tess's father gets too drunk to drive to market that night, so Tess undertakes the journey herself. However, she falls asleep at the reins, and the family's only horse encounters a speeding wagon and is fatally wounded. The blood spreads over her white dress, a symbol of forthcoming events. Tess feels so guilty over the horse's death that she agrees, against her better judgement, to visit Mrs d'Urberville, a wealthy widow who lives in the nearby town of Trantridge, and "claim kin," unaware that in reality, Mrs d'Urberville's husband, Simon Stoke, purchased the baronial title and adopted the surname though unrelated to the real d'Urbervilles ... Review Citations: Library Journal 10/01/2008 pg. 103 (EAN 9781400106998, Compact Disc) Library Journal 10/01/2008 pg. 103 (EAN 9781400136995, Compact Disc) Library Journal 10/01/2008 pg. 103 (EAN 9781400156993, MP3 CD) Publishers Weekly 07/28/2008 pg. 68 (EAN 9789626348673, Compact Disc) Ingram Advance 05/01/2005 pg. 113 (EAN 9780192840691, Paperback) Library Journal 08/01/1996 (EAN 9780745127446, Analog Audio Cassette) Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/2006 pg. 410 (EAN 9780679405863, Hardcover) Wilson Senior High Core Col 01/01/2007 pg. 760 (EAN 9780679405863, Hardcover) Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/2010 pg. 324 (EAN 9780679405863, Hardcover) Wilson Senior High Core Col 01/01/2011 pg. 953 (EAN 9780679405863, Hardcover) Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/2014 pg. 399 (EAN 9780679405863, Hardcover) Booklist 09/01/1993 pg. 11 (EAN 9780460873444, Paperback) Library Journal 05/15/1998 pg. 121 (EAN 9780312163754, Hardcover) Entertainment Weekly 12/11/2009 pg. 119 (EAN 9780141040332, Hardcover) Contributor Bio:  Hardy, Thomas, Defendant THOMAS HARDY (1840-1928) was an English author and poet best known for his literary masterpieces Jude the Obscure, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Far from the Madding Crowd, and The Mayor of Casterbridge. While he achieved success during his lifetime for his novels, Hardy considered himself first and foremost a poet, and his poetry is today recognized as a significant influence on the Movement poets of the 1950s and 1960s.