A Book of the Year in The Times, Guardian, Independent, New Statesman, Bookseller and at Waterstones

'He understands only the women he invents – the others not at all'

Thomas Hardy is one of the most beloved and most-read British authors. His influence on literature and the minds of his readers is singular. But how is it that the novelist who created some of the most memorable and modern female characters in literature had such troubled relationships with real women?

In this highly innovative book, acclaimed biographer Paula Byrne re-examines Hardy’s life through the eyes of the women who made him – mother, sisters, girlfriends, wives, muses. The story veers from shocking scenes such as his obsession with the sight of a woman hanged, to poignant vignettes of unfulfilled passion, to fascinating details of working women’s lives in the nineteenth century.

Hardy Women is the story of how the magnificent fictional women he invented would not have been possible without the hardship and hardiness of the real ones who shaped his passions and his imagination. It is only through understanding and witnessing these hardy women that we can truly enter the heart of this great novelist and poet.

Byrne, the Sunday Times bestselling author, delves into the social history of Britain, exploring the lives of the hardy women who shaped Hardy's life and work. She presents a literary criticism of Hardy's work, focusing on his portrayal of women, and how his real-life relationships influenced his writing.

For fans of Lucy Worsley (Jane Austen at Home), Anne De Courcy (Snowdon), Olivia Laing (The Lonely City), Colm Tóibín (The Master), and Devoney Looser (The Making of Jane Austen).

HarperCollins 2024

Hardy Women: Mother, Sisters, Wives, Muses

Hardy Women: Mother, Sisters, Wives, Muses