# Hardy Women: Mother, Sisters, Wives, Muses - Hardcover

by **Paula Byrne** (Author)

**A TOP BOOK FOR 2024 IN: _THE OBSERVER_, _INDEPENDENT_, _SUNDAY TIMES_ AND _BOOKSELLER_**

**'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.

### Author Biography

Paula Byrne is the author the bestselling biographies _Perdita_, _Mad World_, _The Real Jane Austen_, _Belle_, _Kick_ and _The Genius of Jane Austen_. She is founder and chief executive of ReLit, the Bibliotherapy Foundation, a charity devoted to the mental health benefits of reading. She is married to Sir Jonathan Bate.

**Number of Pages:** 656

**Dimensions:** 2.2 x 9.3 x 6 IN

**Publication Date:** November 12, 2024

## Details

- **Price:** 38.99 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 38.99 USD | In stock |

## Images

- Hardy Women: Mother, Sisters, Wives, Muses - Hardcover

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