Tess of the d’Urbervilles.

Tess Durbeyfield grows up in a modest household in the countryside. News of an ancestral link to an old family prompts new opportunities. She travels to take up positions in different households. Along the way she forms connections that shape her path. The book traces these developments against the backdrop of fields and villages. Hardy sets the action in a specific region of England during the nineteenth century. The narrative highlights the constraints placed on women of her position. It also shows the rhythms of agricultural work and seasonal change.