Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891). By: Thomas Hardy: Novel

Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented is a novel by Thomas Hardy. PLOT: Phase the First: The Maiden The novel is set in impoverished rural England, Thomas Hardy's fictional Wessex, during the Long Depression of the 1870s. Tess is the oldest child of John and Joan Durbeyfield, uneducated peasants. However, John is given the impression by Parson Tringham that he may have noble blood, as "Durbeyfield" is a corruption of "D'Urberville", the surname of an extinct noble Nor...