num_pages: 371
description: This fine novel sets in opposition two of Thomas Hardy’s most unforgettable his heroine, the sensuous, free-spirited Eustacia Vye, and the solemn, majestic stretch of upland in Dorsetshire he called Egdon Heath. The famous opening reveals the haunting power of that dark, forbidding moor where proud Eustacia fervently awaits a clandestine meeting with her lover, Damon Wildeve. But Eustacia’s dreams of escape are not to be realized—neither Wildeve nor the returning native Clym Yeobright can bring her salvation.Injured by forces beyond their control, Hardy’s characters struggle vainly in the net of destiny. In the end, only the face of the lonely heath remains untouched by fate in this masterpiece of tragic passion, a tale that perfectly epitomizes the author’s own unique and melancholy genius.
language: English
title: The Return of the Native
titlecomplete: The Return of the Native (Bantam Classics)
characters: Eustacia Vye, Damon Wildeve, Thomasin Yeobright, Diggory Venn, Clym Yeobright
genres: Fiction, British Literature, Classic Literature, Literature, Romance, Classics, Novels, 19th Century, Historical Fiction, Victorian
ratings_count: 37870
places: Dorset, England, United Kingdom
publisher: Bantam Classics