As Thomas Hardy prepares to stage Tess of the D'Urbervilles the weakness of his second marriage, his unrequited love for his local leading lady and the fears of old age are revealed. Written from three viewpoints - Thomas, his wife and the actress, and always haunted by his first wife's ghost, this is a novel of repressed emotion, jealousy, longing and unhappiness. But despite the winter gloom there's a subtle humour. A very English story.
