Book Review: "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" by Thomas Hardy (audio)

Tess of the D'Urbervilles (Penguin Classics)

This book was fantastic. It was bleak and heartbreaking, but fantastic. I'm not sure I've ever been so sad for a main character before. But wow, Hardy can write. I'm going to outline the plot, including the ending, so please note that there are SPOILERS AHEAD.

Tess Durbeyfield, a poor girl, finds out she's actually the descendant of the once-mighty D'Urbervilles. She goes in search of work at her relatives' home, and meets Alec D'Urberville (no actual relation -- he stole the name), who seduces her and rapes her in the forest. Bastard. Tess leaves the D'Urberville estate to be with her family again, and winds up pregnant. The baby is born but quickly succumbs to death.

Tess, who thinks her rape and death of her child are her own fault, moves away to work at a dairy. There, she meets Angel Clare (a kind man from a good family) and the two fall in love. Tess refuses his requests for an engagement, saying she's not worth him and her past would make him not love her. He pleads with her and tells her it's not the case. Finally, she agrees and the two are wed. That night, they tell each other their deepest, darkest secrets. Angel admits to two drunken nights of debauchery, which Tess forgives him for, and Tess tells him the story about Alec and the child. Angel decides Tess's sins are too great and leaves to Brazil to clear his head. Bastard.

Tess then embarks upon a long journey of trying to pay penance for her sins by doing difficult manual labor. Her letters to Angel go unanswered, but she still blames herself. When she finally hits rock bottom, she goes to appeal to Angel's family for money, although her pride never lets her go through with her plan. On her way home, she meets a street preacher, who is none other than a reformed Alec D'Urberville, although it's pretty apparent that his faith is transparent. Bastard.

Tess tells him that she had had a child and it died, and Alec proceeds to follow her around and asks her to marry him repeatedly, saying he's her true husband because he raped her they had consumated their love. Finally, she gives in because she hasn't heard from Angel (bastard) and her family is in dire straits and is living in a graveyard. Alec supports her and her family.

Angel finally realizes that Tess was not responsible for her sins and decides to come back for her, only to learn she's living with Alec. Tess is so distraught knowing that Angel finally came back for her (she never stopped loving him and blaming herself), that she kills Alec (go Tess!) and she and Angel go on the lam. Tess is finally apprehended at Stonehenge, and is soon put to death.

Yeah. Seriously. That's one depressing story. As a woman who lives in 2007, I had a hard time feeling for Tess when I just wanted to scream, "it's not your fault he raped you! Men (at least in this book) are bastards! You're worth more than them!" But of course this didn't occur to Tess in 1891. It was all her fault and she was paying for her sins. The book was so bleak when it was bleak, and so lovely the few times it was lovely. Hardy's writing was very evocative, and the subject matter was apparently scandalous in his day. His descriptions of England were amazing, too. I listened to the audio book, read by Davina Porter, and it was wonderful. She's a phenomenal reader -- one of the best so far.  

My Rating: 9 out of 10 for being so tragically bleak yet so fantastically written. Also, the mini-series starring Justine Waddell is uh-ma-zing, so if you don't feel like reading the book (although I highly recommend it) you can watch the movie instead.