Author:Thomas Hardy
'One of the most compassionate of all writers...you feel a kind of agony of helpless tenderness in the writer for all troubled souls’ The Times
Jude Fawley is a young man who longs to better himself and go to Christminster University. However, poverty forces him into a job as a stonemason and an unhappy marriage. When his wife leaves him Jude moves to Christminster determined to follow his dream. There he meets and falls for his free-spirited cousin, Sue Bridehead. They refuse to marry, much to the disapproval of the community around them. In this heartbreaking story Hardy shows the devastating effects of social prejudice and oppression.
The novel caused outrage when it was published in 1895 and, as a result, was the last novel Hardy ever wrote.
See also: The Return of the Native
Visceral, passionate, sylvan...anti-hypocrisy, anti-repression..dealing with love, death, with young people with everything before them, dealt a cruelly stacked hand... Hardy reaches deeper, into our wildest recesses. In a safe world, he speaks to our animal side.
—— Evening StandardTo no tragic novelist do we surrender more completely at the last...one of the most compassionate of all writers...you feel a kind of agony of helpless tenderness in the writer for all troubled souls
—— The TimesHardy may have been born in 1840 shortly after Victoria came to the throne, but he speaks to the 20th century rather than the 19th.
—— IndependentA classic outsider novel. An anthem to misery.
—— Katy Guest , The IndependentOne of the big stories in English fiction this decade has been the return and triumph of Deborah Levy... You would call her example inspiring if it weren't clearly impossible to emulate
—— New StatesmanAn ice-cold skewering of patriarchy, humanity and the darkness of the 20th century Europe
—— The TimesIn one short and sly book after another, she writes about characters navigating swerves of history and sexuality, and the social and personal rootlessness that accompanies both
—— The AtlanticCharged with themes spanning memory and mortality, beauty and time, it's as electrifying as it is mysterious
—— Mail on SundayIntelligent and supple...a dizzying tale of life across time and borders
—— Financial TimesIt's clever, raw and doesn't play by any rules
—— Evening StandardSuperbly crafted, enigmatic, tantalizing... Levy defies gravity in a daring, time-bending new novel... Head-spinning and playful, her writing offers sophistication and delightful artistry
—— Kirkus (Starred review)One of the best books I have ever read
—— Katherine Angel via Twitterplayful, consistently surprising...Levy brilliantly plumbs the divide between the self and others
—— Publishers Weekly Best Books 2019Lalwani's prose has a balletic lightness
—— EconomistA female lead who isn't defined by a romantic story arc? Yes please. Lalwani's serious, ravishing way of writing about the secret life of Britain is just what we need
—— TimesYou People is a short, complex novel that shines a light behind the smiles at your local restaurant, and asks tough questions about the nature of goodness in an unfair society
—— Sunday Telegraph BOOK OF THE WEEKA sensitive and thought-provoking examination of an issue that is never far from the news and, as the plot accelerates, it segues into a tense and nerve-wracking thriller
—— Western MailLalwani's novels are full of moments when the stories people tell about themselves and the world prove to be unreliable or open to manipulation.... observations are magical, fresh and unsettling
—— London Review of BooksIf you want a book to read this summer that taps into contemporary concerns, this excellent new one from Nikita Lalwani is the one to read
—— SpectatorLalwani explores kindness, altruism and the precariousness of interconnected lives in an economical tale that has the pace and suspense of a thriller
—— Daily MailLalwani eloquently explores the prejudices, financial pressures and loneliness faced by 'outsiders' trying to survive in a hostile environment
—— The Tablet