A review by happylilkt
Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

2.0

I couldn't abide this read in my high school AP lit course. Maybe it's because I liked pretty much everything else we read? Or maybe because I had read [b:Adam Bede|20563|Adam Bede|George Eliot|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1167298252l/20563._SY75_.jpg|21503633] the summer previous and they seemed so similar...and long... and depressing. Honestly, sometimes I wonder why we throw some of these authors at high schoolers. I wonder if some authors need a more maturity to be appreciated. Regardless, almost 20 years later and I absolutely adored [b:Under the Greenwood Tree|825901|Under the Greenwood Tree|Thomas Hardy|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1178724039l/825901._SY75_.jpg|2728346] (Hardy like you've never read him before or since) and reveled in the tragedy that is [b:The Return of the Native|32650|The Return of the Native|Thomas Hardy|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1403182613l/32650._SY75_.jpg|3140534]; so now I'm wondering if I should revisit Tess... I'm going to try another novel first (probably [b:Far From the Madding Crowd|31463|Far From the Madding Crowd|Thomas Hardy|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388279695l/31463._SY75_.jpg|914540]) and then decide.