Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840–11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism. He was highly critical of much in Victorian society.While Hardy wrote poetry throughout his life and regarded himself primarily as a poet, his first collection was not published until 1898. Initially, he gained fame as the author of novels such as Far from the Madding Crowd (1874), The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891) and Jude the Obscure (1895). During his lifetime, Hardy's poetry was acclaimed.Because Hardy's family lacked the means for a university education, his formal education ended at the age of 16, when he became apprenticed to James Hicks, a local architect.He worked on the design of the new church at nearby Athelhampton.He moved to London in 1862 where he enrolled as a student at King's College London. He became an accomplished architect. But, Hardy never felt at home in London.During this time he became interested in social reform, and he cared about animal welfare.After 5 years,he returned to Dorset, settling in Weymouth, and decided to dedicate himself to writing.In 1870, while on an architectural mission to restore the parish church of St Juliot in Cornwall,Hardy met and fell in love with Emma Gifford, whom he married in late 1874.In 1885 Thomas and his wife moved into Max Gate in Dorchester, a house designed by Hardy and built by his brother.However, they became estranged due to their incompatibilities with religion, class and personality, Emma's mental illness and Hardy's neglect.Emma's sudden death in 1912 had a traumatic effect on him, and after her death, Hardy revisited places linked with their courtship; his Poems 1912–13 reflect upon her death. In 1914, Hardy remarried to Florence Emily Dugdale, his secretary. He remained preoccupied with his first wife's death and tried to overcome his remorse by writing poetry.He had complex bereavement disorder. The inner world of grief is full of haunting. The outer world of grief involves anniversaries and holidays,body and mind,life's duties,clothes and possessions,age, and closure.

his was a strange but fascinating book about Hardy and his grief for his first wife Emma. Although they had a very romantic and happy courtship, the marriage itself was very unhappy due to Emma’s mental illness although Hardy sounded as though he was a very difficult man and there were rumours that he had a mistress. He was still distraught about Emma’s death, turning his grief into beautiful poetry. He was lucky that he had such a sweet and understanding second wife who was remarkably patient because he was so overcome with guilt and depression over Emma! It probably would have driven most women mad.

It was interesting to see how Hardy ‘handled’ his grief and anyone who is a widow or a widower will easily identify with him but he was lucky that he had such a patient second wife. This is probably worth reading a few times if you are grieving for the insights that it gives about the stages of grief, especially the sixth stage. It’s best if you are a fan of Hardy though!

I received this free ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.