Hardy Women, Paula Byrne
Hardy Women, Paula Byrne
List: $27.99 | Sale: $19.59
Club: $13.99

Hardy Women

Author: Paula Byrne

Narrator: Dawn Murphy

Unabridged: 18 hr 38 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/01/2024

Synopsis

A Book of the Year in and at Waterstones 'He understands only the women he invents – the others not at all' Thomas Hardy is one of the most beloved and most-read British authors. His influence on literature and the minds of his readers is singular. But how is it that the novelist who created some of the most memorable and modern female characters in literature had such troubled relationships with real women? In this highly innovative book, acclaimed biographer Paula Byrne re-examines Hardy’s life through the eyes of the women who made him – mother, sisters, girlfriends, wives, muses. The story veers from shocking scenes such as his obsession with the sight of a woman hanged, to poignant vignettes of unfulfilled passion, to fascinating details of working women’s lives in the nineteenth century. Hardy Women

About Paula Byrne

Paula Byrne is the critically acclaimed author of five biographies, including Belle: The Slave Daughter and the Lord Chief Justice, The Real Jane Austen, and Mad World: Evelyn Waugh and the Secrets of Brideshead. She lives in Oxford, England, with her husband, the academic and biographer Jonathan Bate.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Alenka

A biography of a great writer but told through the women in his life, both real and fictional. I liked that idea a lot and Paula Byrne does a good job gathering information, pointing out connections, and for once showing that even iconic artists are dependent for much of their eventual fame on those......more

Goodreads review by Paul

It has taken me a while to dip in and out of this but the journey has been worth it. As a Hardy fan I learnt a lot and taking the perspective of the many women in his life is very revealing. An excellent book I would recommend to anyone vaguely interested in Hardy.......more

Goodreads review by Marcus

English writer Thomas Hardy is often associated with memorable female characters; Tess from Tess of the d’Urbervilles, Bathsheba Everdene in Far from the Madding Crowd or Sue Bridehead in Jude the Obscure. Characters made more memorable by numerous film and television adaptations. Who can forget how......more

Goodreads review by Andrew

Obviously an important read for any fan of Hardy but disappointing in many respects. Poorly edited/proofread (e.g where it says that someone wanted to be 'married' in the churchyard beside his mistress, when clearly the intended word is 'buried'; and the account of Martha Browne's execution when she......more

Quotes

EARLY PRAISE FOR ‘Absorbing… a treat for Hardy fans and unhappy wives’ The Times ‘Novelist and poet Thomas Hardy created some of literature’s most enduring female characters … but it is the real women who shaped the life of the tortured genius that a book vividly reanimates’ Independent 'Magnificent… a masterful storyteller and meticulous researcher, Byrne shows us how the women in Hardy's work are based on the women in his life. But she does so with the delicacy of a hummingbird, darting from point to point, suggesting but never concluding' Washington Post 'By turns infuriating and inspiring, but always fascinating, this page-turner of a book offers a genuinely fresh perspective on one of Victorian Britain’s most famous writers' Gareth Russell, author of ‘A fascinating re-examination of the life of Thomas Hardy through the eyes of the women who profoundly influenced him-his mother, his sisters, girlfriends, wives and muses. Drawing on access to some neverbefore-seen passages in Hardy's journals, she shows that it is through these hardy women that we can truly appreciate his much-loved works’ The Bookseller, Editor’s Choice

Add to Cart
Add to Wish List