The Return of the Native is Thomas Hardy's sixth published novel. It first appeared in the magazine Belgravia, a publication known for its sensationalism, and was presented in twelve monthly installments from January to December 1878. Because of the novel's controversial themes, Hardy had some difficulty finding a publisher; reviews, however, though somewhat mixed, were generally positive. In the twentieth century, The Return of the Native became one of Hardy's most popular novels. With its deeply flawed heroine and its ...
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The Return of the Native is Thomas Hardy's sixth published novel. It first appeared in the magazine Belgravia, a publication known for its sensationalism, and was presented in twelve monthly installments from January to December 1878. Because of the novel's controversial themes, Hardy had some difficulty finding a publisher; reviews, however, though somewhat mixed, were generally positive. In the twentieth century, The Return of the Native became one of Hardy's most popular novels. With its deeply flawed heroine and its (for the time) open acknowledgement of illicit sexual relationships, The Return of the Native raised some eyebrows when it first appeared as a serial in Victorian Britain. Although he intended to structure the novel into five books, thus mirroring the classical tragic format, Hardy submitted to the tastes of the serial-reading public sufficiently to tack on a happy ending for Diggory Venn and Thomasin in a sixth book, Aftercourses. In Hardy's original conception, Venn retains his weird reddleman's character, while Thomasin lives out her days as a widow.
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Add this copy of The Return of the Native to cart. $10.03, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2017 by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform.
Add this copy of The Return of the Native to cart. $30.30, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2017 by CreateSpace Independent Publis.
Return of the Native is Hardy at his very best, it is beautifully dark and dangerous, from the start to almost the very end. The characters are sublime yet believable, and the heath (the most important character of them all) positively oozes suspence and unpredictablilty. The turbulate relationships scream out disaster, and fill any reader with a sense of forboding and a desperate wish for a happy ending. However the 'Happy' end is not so comforting when it comes as it seems strangly out of place with the rest of the novel. Overall Return of the native presents a beautiful and lost world from before the wars. well worth a read dispite the lenghty sentences and the vast descriptions that may put some off.
