Desperate Remedies is Thomas Hardy's first published work
Released in 1896, the story centers around young Cytherea Graye, who becomes a servant to Miss Auclyffe, a woman with a troubled past. There, she encounters Aeneas Manston, the incredibly handsome and charming steward of Miss Auclyffe. The anti-hero, Aeneas Manston, as physically alluring as he is evil, fascinates the innocent Cytherea though she is in love with another man. When he cannot seduce her, Manston resorts to deception, blackmail, bigamy, murder, and rape.
This compelling story raises the great questions underlying Hardy's major novels, including the injustice of the class system and the treatment of women.
Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928) was an English novelist and poet of the naturalist movement.
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"I suppose this is generally thought less of, in Hardy's oeuvre, since it's a "sensation novel," but it has much of the strength of his later work, and has a fun, if sometimes a bit unbelievable, plot. I quite enjoyed it. Manslaughter, possible bigamy, hidden identities: what's not to like?"
—
Cooper (4 out of 5 stars)