Tess of the D'urbervilles ( Editura: Transatlantic Press, Autor: Thomas Hardy ISBN 9781908533432 )

Wastrel peasant Jack Durbeyfield is elated when he learns he has noble blood coursing through his veins. He dispatches his beautiful young daughter Tess to establish the family's birthright by claiming kinship with the wealthy d'Urbervilles. The attempt to resurrect the family's fortunes sees the unworldly Tess thrown into the clutches of predatory Alec D'Urberville, who violated and impregnates her. Tess's love for clergyman's son Angel Clare offers her the chance to put the grievous wrong behind her, but on their wedding night she decides she must reveal the nature of her past misfortune.
By describing Tess as ''a pure woman'' in the novel's subtitle, Hardy defied conventional morality and provoked considerable outrage. Over a century on from its first