Thomas Hardy's Women; In Life and Fiction

by Peter Tait

'Thomas Hardy's Women' looks at the most significant relationships Thomas Hardy had with the women during his lifetime. It begins by looking at family members and examines the considerable influence exerted by his mother, Jemimah. Next, it assesses his relationships with his two sisters, Mary and Kate and his two wives, Emma and Florence before describing his friendships with four of his closest female confidantes, Tryphena Sparks, Florence Henniker, Agnes Gove and Gertrude Bugler. The second section of the book looks at his female characters, his heroines, whom he often used as mouthpieces for his views on love, marriage, feminism and much else. The closing chapters draw together what we have been able to glean from how his own life was shaped through his relationships with the women in his life and how much they influenced his views on women and society.
While the book draws some conclusions about Hardy’s character, his psychological make-up and his views on misogyny and feminism, romance and love, it also gives an insight into Hardy’s dual-personality and how his relationships with the women who influenced him found their way into writing and allowed Hardy to escape from the vicissitudes of his own life into his own world.

174 pages, Hardcover

Published October 30, 2020

About the author

Peter Tait was born in New Zealand . After a career teaching at junior and senior schools in both New Zealand and England, he finally moved to England in 1998 to take up a position as Headmaster in Sherborne, Dorset. He is a long-time devotee of the writings of Thomas Hardy as well as the Powys brothers, John Cowper, Theodore and Llewelyn.
Before writing the two novels on the wives of Thomas Hardy, Florence: Mistress of Max Gate and its prequel, Emma: West of Wessex Girl, Peter had written a biography of Sir John Ormond (‘In The Chair: The Public Life of Sir John Ormond’)as well as numerous articles on education , in 2010, the introduction to The Joy of It by Littleton Powys. With his wife, Sarah, he owns and, in the summer months, helps run The English Bookshop in St Antonin Noble Val just north of Toulouse.
While he is a literary nomad, his heart lies very much in his native New Zealand and he is currently writing a novel with the working title of 'Turangawaewae' In his exile,
he enjoys reading books by, and about, New Zealanders.