Thomas Hardy

Thomas Hardy (1840–1928) was an English writer and poet. Born in Dorset, he initially trained as an architect and worked, among other things, as a church restorer before devoting himself more fully to literature. He became known for novels including *Far from the Madding Crowd*, *Tess of the d’Urbervilles*, and *Jude the Obscure*. Many of his often tragic stories are set in the semi-fictional region of Wessex in southern England. Following the scandal caused by *Jude the Obscure* in 1895, Hardy stopped publishing novels and concentrated on poetry. His extensive body of work includes 14 novels and almost 1,000 poems.