Desperate Remedies

Hardy’s first published novel is a tense tale of romance and crime in which a young woman, entangled between suitors, is drawn toward a charming architect while a mysterious steward’s dark past threatens ruin and murder. Blending the sensation-novel plotting popular in his day with the brooding rural atmosphere that would become his hallmark, it moves through secrets, blackmail, and a fire toward a gripping climax. Though an early work, it already shows Hardy’s gift for landscape, fate, and the constraints of Victorian society. A suspenseful introduction to one of England’s greatest novelists.