It has been said that both Thomas Hardy's wives were livlier letter-writers than he was himself. They were certainly less discreet, especially on the subject of their marital grievances, with the result that Hardy's intensely private life and personality are uniquely illuminated in the letters of the two women who knew him best. Their characteristic voices--and their opinions on many other subjects besides their husband--sound clearly through this generous selection of their letters: it is the first time they have spoken extensively in print. Hardy married Emma Lavinia Gilford in 1874, when he was thirty-four and she thirty-three; two years later after her death in 1912 he married Florence Emily Dugdale, thirty-nine years his junior. Relatively few of Emma's letters survive, but those included vividly register not only her distinctive personality and ideas but also, if less directly, the deteriorating later phases of her marriage. Florence Hardy's leters are far more numerous, largely because of her husband's immense fame in old age, and her own role as the doorkeeper of Max Gate.;This book is intended for general readers interested in biography as well as students of Victorian and early twentieth-century literature.

The great English novelist and poet Thomas Hardy (1840 1928) worked with his second wife, Florence, on this account of his life. It was published under her name, in two separate volumes, after his death. Its origins are as fascinating as the man himself: written in the third person, it was compiled from Hardy's selections from his diaries, notebooks and letters, typed up by Florence and further edited by her after he died. The work provides an invaluable, if idiosyncratic, record of Hardy's life and complex, contradictory character. This is the first volume, published in 1928 and covering the period 1840 91, including Hardy's childhood in Dorset, the publication of novels such as Far from the Madding Crowd (1874) and Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1891), his marriage in 1874 to Emma Gifford and the building of Max Gate, their home near Dorchester.

The great English novelist and poet Thomas Hardy (1840 1928) worked with his second wife, Florence, on this account of his life. It was published under her name, in two separate volumes, after his death. Its origins are as fascinating as the man himself: written in the third person, it was compiled from Hardy's selections from his diaries, notebooks and letters, typed up by Florence and further edited by her after he died. The work provides an invaluable, if idiosyncratic, record of Hardy's life and complex, contradictory character. This is the second volume, published in 1930 and covering the period 1892 1928. It includes the publication of Jude the Obscure (1895) and its hostile reception, Hardy's return to writing poetry, the creation of his epic drama The Dynasts (1908), the death of Emma, his first wife, Hardy's response to World War I, and his marriage to Florence Dugdale.

This is a new release of the original 1928 edition.

Compiled Largely From Contemporary Notes, Letters, Diaries And Biographical Memoranda, As Well As From Oral Information In Conversations Extending Over Many Years.

Compiled Largely From Contemporary Notes, Letters, Diaries And Biographical Memoranda, As Well As From Oral Information In Conversations Extending Over Many Years.

Compiled Largely From Contemporary Notes, Letters, Diaries And Biographical Memoranda, As Well As From Oral Information In Conversations Extending Over Many Years.

Compiled Largely From Contemporary Notes, Letters, Diaries And Biographical Memoranda, As Well As From Oral Information In Conversations Extending Over Many Years.