Hardy Women

A Book of the Year in The Times, Guardian, Independent, New Statesman, Bookseller and at Waterstones

'He understands only the women he invents - the others not at all'

By viewing the man through the eyes of the strong woman who formed him and who inspired some of the greatest female heroines in literature, Hardy''s Women will provide a unique angle on one of the greatest writers to have lived. ''The doll of fiction must be demolished'', he wrote. But the women in his life paid a large price for his vision.

Autorentext

Paula Byrne is the author of eight acclaimed works of non-fiction, most recently Hardy Women: Mother, Sisters, Wives, Muses. Earlier books include The Adventures of Miss Barbara Pym, The Genius of Jane Austen, and Kick: The True Story of Kick Kennedy. Paula wrote a tie-in book to the award-winning movie Belle. In 2013, to coincide with the bi-centenary of the publication of Pride and Prejudice, Paula wrote an innovative biography The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things. Other books include Mad World (about Evelyn Waugh and the writing of Brideshead Revisited) and Perdita: A Life of Mary Robinson which was longlisted for the Samuel Johnson Award. She is the author of two novels, Look to Your Wife and Blonde Venus and was the historical consultant for PBS series Sanditon. She is founder of ReLit, a charity devoted to the mental health benefits of reading. She is married to Sir Jonathan Bate.

Klappentext

A Book of the Year in The Times, Guardian, Independent, New Statesman, Bookseller 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 is the story of how the magnificent fictional women he invented would not have been possible without the hardship and hardiness of the real ones who shaped his passions and his imagination. It is only through understanding and witnessing these hardy women that we can truly enter the heart of this great novelist and poet.

Zusammenfassung
A Book of the Year in The Times, Guardian, Independent, New Statesman, Bookseller and at Waterstones'He understands only the women he invents - the others not at all'