Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

16-year-old Tess Durbeyfield tries to seek her fortune, and meets with mixed results. I didn’t care for this. I found it a slog to get through, and kept avoiding it. I’ve enjoyed other Victorian literature, so disliking this so viscerally was a surprise. While Tess starts out as someone with character, by the end of the first part she has dissolved into a wet mush. I should have taken a hint from the full title of the novel, Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman, and realised that I would end up despairing. I found it a slow, dreary read, and practically every character in the novel is horrible. Convenient changes of heart happen whenever the plot needs it to, which doesn’t make it less tedious to read. It’s put me right off reading any more Hardy. ★★☆☆☆