Two on a Tower

by Thomas Hardy

Overview

First published in 1882, Two on a Tower charts the tragic romance of Lady Viviette Constantine and Swithin St. Cleve, who is both Lady Viviette's social inferior and ten years her junior. Together in a monastic tower that has been converted into an astronomical observatory, the two lovers "sweep the heavens."

Science and romance are destined to collide, however, as work, ambition, and the pressures of the outside world intrude upon the pair. In what Sally Shuttleworth calls a "drama of oppositions and conflicts," Hardy's story sets male desire against female constancy and "describes an arc across the horizon of late nineteenth-century social and cultural concerns: sexuality, class, history, science, and religion." Two on a Tower is a moving depiction of modern love and a superb novel of ideas.

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), the author of Far from the Madding Crowd, Jude the Obscure, and Under the Greenwood Tree, was also an accomplished poet. Many of his works, including his poetry, are available from Penguin Classics.
Sally Shuttleworth is Professor of Modern Literature at the University of Sheffield, England.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781775450429
Publisher:	The Floating Press
Publication date:	12/01/2010
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	397 KB

About the Author

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) immortalized the site of his birth—Egdon Heath, in Dorset, near Dorchester—in his writing. Delicate as a child, he was taught at home by his mother before he attended grammar school. At sixteen, Hardy was apprenticed to an architect, and for many years, architecture was his profession; in his spare time, he pursued his first and last literary love, poetry. Finally convinced that he could earn his living as an author, he retired from architecture, married, and devoted himself to writing. An extremely productive novelist, Hardy published an important book every year or two. In 1896, disturbed by the public outcry over the unconventional subjects of his two greatest novels—Tess of the D’Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure—he announced that he was giving up fiction and afterward produced only poetry. In later years, he received many honors. He was buried in Poet’s Corner, in Westminster Abbey. It was as a poet that he wished to be remembered, but today critics regard his novels as his most memorable contribution to English literature for their psychological insight, decisive delineation of character, and profound presentation of tragedy.

Patricia Ingham is a Senior Research Fellow and Reader at St Anne's College, Oxford. She has written on the Victorian novel and on Hardy in particular. she is the General Editor of all of Hardy's fiction in the Penguin Classics and has edited Gaskell's North and South for the series.

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

Editorial Reviews

Although Two on a Tower is a minor Thomas Hardy work, minor Thomas Hardy is much worth a listener’s time…A truly fine novel.”

AudioFile

Swithin St. Cleeve and Lady Constantine have a challenging relationship. Because of social pressure, neither party is free to commit to the other. Leighton Pugh’s focused narration keeps the listener’s attention fixed on the events of the story. He captures the somber tones of Hardy’s prose without becoming monotonous. Through his vocal characterizations, Pugh aptly builds the characters’ personalities. Young Swithin, an aspiring astronomer, is passionate and earnest; his slight rural accent immediately contrasts his social standing with Lady Constantine’s. Pugh renders Lady Constantine’s ambivalence by making her sound nervous at times and forceful at others. His attention to dialogue adds insight into the characters’ motivations. D.M.W. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

APRIL 2020 - AudioFile

Swithin St. Cleeve and Lady Constantine have a challenging relationship. Because of social pressure, neither party is free to commit to the other. Leighton Pugh’s focused narration keeps the listener’s attention fixed on the events of the story. He captures the somber tones of Hardy’s prose without becoming monotonous. Through his vocal characterizations, Pugh aptly builds the characters’ personalities. Young Swithin, an aspiring astronomer, is passionate and earnest; his slight rural accent immediately contrasts his social standing with Lady Constantine’s. Pugh renders Lady Constantine’s ambivalence by making her sound nervous at times and forceful at others. His attention to dialogue adds insight into the characters’ motivations. D.M.W. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

APRIL 2020 - AudioFile