Wordsworth Collectors - Tess of the Durbevilles, Thomas Hardy

Tess Durbeyfield is the daughter of a poor and dissipated villager, who learns that she may be descended from the ancient family of d'Urbeville. In her search for respectability her fortunes fluctuate wildly, and the story assumes the proportions of a Greek tragedy. It explores Tess's relationships with two very different men, her struggle against the social mores of the rural Victorian world which she inhabits, and the hypocrisy of the age.