Desperate Remedies

by Thomas Hardy, Mary Rimmer (Introduction), Mary Rimmer (Noted by)

Overview

Cytherea has taken a position as lady's maid to the eccentric arch-intriguer Miss Aldclyffe. On discovering that the man she loves, Edward Springrove, is already engaged to his cousin, Cytherea comes under the influence of Miss Aldclyffe's fascinating, manipulative steward Manston.

Blackmail, murder and romance are among the ingredients of Hardy's first published novel, and in it he draws blithely on the 'sensation novel' perfected by Wilkie Collins. Several perceptive critics praised the author as a novelist with a future when Desperate Remedies appeared anonymously in 1871. In its depiction of country life and insight into psychology and sexuality it already bears the unmistakable imprint of Hardy's genius.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780140435238
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/28/1998
Series:	Penguin Classics Series
Pages:	512
Sales rank:	253,422
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.77(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

THOMAS HARDY (1840-1928) was recognized, and even revered, as the major literary figure of his time by his contemporaries. Most of his major novels are available in Penguin Classics.

MARY RIMMER is Associate Professor of English at the University of New Brunswick in Canada. She has written extensively on Hardy, and is currently writing a book on narrative voice in Hardy.

Date of Birth:

June 2, 1840

Date of Death:

January 11, 1928

Place of Birth:

Higher Brockhampon, Dorset, England

Place of Death:

Max Gate, Dorchester, England

Education:

Served as apprentice to architect James Hicks

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements		viii	(1)
General Editor's Preface		ix	(3)
Chronology: Hardy's Life and Works		xii	(4)
Map: The Wessex of the Novels		xvi	(1)
Bibliographical Note		xvii	(1)
Introduction		xviii	(23)
Further Reading		xli	(2)
A Note on the History of the Text		xliii
DESPERATE REMEDIES		1	(407)
Notes		408	(37)
Appendix I: The Poor Man and the Publishers		445	(3)
Appendix II: Hardy's Prefaces to Later Editions		448	(2)
Appendix III: The 'Lesbian Scene'		450	(5)
Appendix IV: Desperate Remedies and The Golden Treasury		455	(2)
Glossary		457