The Return of the Native (Royal Collector's Edition) (Case Laminate Hardcover with Jacket)

by Thomas Hardy

Overview

The Return of the Native, set in the stark, enthralling landscape of Egdon Heath, focuses on the lives and destinies intertwined within this rural setting. The narrative, rich in symbolism and the clash between pagan and Christian values, begins on a Guy Fawkes Night, introducing a diverse cast of characters, from the idealistic Clym Yeobright to the passionate Eustacia Vye, and the steadfast Diggory Venn. Their stories, marked by love, ambition, and betrayal, unfold over a year and a day, reflecting Hardy's critique of Victorian society and its constraints.

The Return of the Native stirred Victorian society with its candid portrayal of flawed characters and sexual relationships. Hardy's integration of modern themes like sexual politics and the individual's clash with societal norms, framed within a classical tragedy structure and set against the primal backdrop of Egdon Heath, marked a departure towards modernism. The novel's exploration of community's role in shaping individual destinies, particularly through its treatment of the unconventional Eustacia Vye, highlights the timeless struggle between personal desires and communal expectations.

This case laminate collector's edition includes a Victorian inspired dust-jacket.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781778780332
Publisher:	Royal Classics
Publication date:	04/16/2024
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.94(d)

About the Author

Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 - 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, especially William Wordsworth. He was highly critical of much in Victorian society, especially on the declining status of rural people in Britain, such as those from his native South West England. While Hardy wrote poetry throughout his life and regarded himself primarily as a poet, his first collection was not published until 1898. Initially, therefore, he gained fame as the author of such novels as Far from the Madding Crowd (1874), The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891), and Jude the Obscure (1895). During his lifetime, Hardy's poetry was acclaimed by younger poets (particularly the Georgians) who viewed him as a mentor. After his death his poems were lauded by Ezra Pound, W. H. Auden and Philip Larkin. Many of his novels concern tragic characters struggling against their passions and social circumstances, and they are often set in the semi-fictional region of Wessex; initially based on the medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom, Hardy's Wessex eventually came to include the counties of Dorset, Wiltshire, Somerset, Devon, Hampshire and much of Berkshire, in southwest and south central England. Two of his novels, Tess of the d'Urbervilles and Far from the Madding Crowd, were listed in the top 50 on the BBC's survey The Big Read.

Date of Birth:

June 2, 1840

Date of Death:

January 11, 1928

Place of Birth:

Higher Brockhampon, Dorset, England

Place of Death:

Max Gate, Dorchester, England

Education:

Served as apprentice to architect James Hicks