Thomas Hardy trained to be an architect before moving to London, and won several awards for his work. His many novels take place in the fictional county of Wessex, based partly on other counties such as Devon and Dorset. The setting was first introduced in his book "Far from the Madding Crowd" in 1874, and became the setting for his future stories, such as "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" and "Jude the Obscure." His novels were written to upset Victorian sensibilities - and often succeeded. In the end, the backlash against his work discouraged him from writing novels permanently.

Discuss this Author

Available books:

• Desperate Remedies
• The Dynasts
• A Group of Noble Dames
• The Hand of Ethelberta
• Jude the Obscure
• A Laodicean
• The Mayor of Casterbridge
• A Pair of Blue Eyes
• Return of the Native
• The Romantic Adventures of a Milkmaid
• Tess of the d'Urbervilles
• The Trumpet-Major
• Two on a Tower
• Under the Greenwood Tree
• The Well-Beloved
• Wessex Poems and Other Verses

• A Changed Man and Other Tales
• Life's Little Ironies
• Wessex Tales

• Moments of Vision
• Moments of Vision
• Poems of the Past and Present
• Time's Laughingstocks and Other Verses