An Indiscretion in the Life of an Heiress and Other Stories

This novella was Hardy’s first published work, though published anonymously. A young man from a tenant farming background is obsessed with the daughter of the landowner. He saves her life, and an understanding grows between them, but she cannot escape her roots and her perceived obligations to her father. Many years later after an enforced separation , they are reunited and elope, but tragedy strikes in the usual Hardy fashion. It is a good study in obsessive and hopeless love, but seems to be overlooked; for example, it is not mentioned in Hardy’s Wikipedia article, which lists numerous obscure short stories and poems, and the fictional locations mentioned in the text do not feature in online glossaries of places in Hardy’s show more Wessex with their real world equivalents. Its significance is that it supposedly builds on themes and scenes in Hardy’s unpublished and lost first manuscript The Poor Man and the Lady. show less

I consider Thomas Hardy as one of the all-time great writers, though this novella isn't among his finest compositions. It's still a good read, however, and is worth checking it out.

The main theme of a poor man falling in love with a rich lady is not uncommon in Hardy's fiction. He concocts some entertaining scenes here and there, though I was disappointed in the final chapter, as I felt the ending could've been stronger.

A short novel with excruciating agony and a tragic ending. Wait, isn't that what ALL of Hardy's books are about? Hardy's "Lost Novel" is clearly an unpolished work. I would recommend this only to students of his writings.
~Stephanie

An interesting introduction to Thomas Hardy and his work. I have a Complete Works of him on kindle and will dip into it as I feel but will review each novel as I read them, this was my first ever read of anything by Hardy.