Jude Fawley is a rural stone mason with intellectual aspirations. Frustrated by poverty and the indifference of the academic institutions at the University of Christminster, his only chance of fulfilment seems to lie in his relationship with his unconventional cousin, Sue Bridehead. But life as social outcasts proves undermining, and when tragedy occurs, Sue has no resilience and Jude is left in despair.
My Rating: 5/5
I read this book for Victober and it is my third Thomas Hardy novel and like his previous 2 novels I have read (both in 2018) this one did not disappoint.
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed my first Hardy novel Tess of the d'Urbervilles and how much I preferred his writing to that of Dickens, Austen, Wilde and the Brontes because they are much more well known.
Now having finished my third book by Hardy I can confidentially say that Hardy is by far my favourite classics author.
I love Hardy's ability to describe settings in such vivid detail without boring me or slowing the pace and this ability was put on show in this book as the protagonist Jude is constantly moving from town to town.
This book follows Jude who from a young age is set on getting an education but as we follow him over the course of the rest of his life we see the many hurdles he encounters that ultimately prevent him from fulfilling his dreams.
Like with Tess I was amazed by how different their society is from the one today and how easy it is to become shunned from the community based on things that are not even your fault.
I also love how Hardy writes his stories over the course of the protagonist's lifetime because we get to see the development of the character as well as the mistakes and their eventual death. This has been the case for all 3 of the Hardy novels I have read so far.
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