Thomas Hardy: The Guarded Life

Few writers are as strongly associated with a particular place as Thomas Hardy. His role as unofficial historian of Wessex has come to define his reputation, yet it can only begin to hint at the complexities of a man who cultivated aristocratic friends, spent several months each year in London and wrote some of the most popular - but also most vilified - novels of the Victorian period.

'The Guarded Life' challenges some of the long-held views of Hardy and, by examining the influences that shaped both man and author (his relationships with women, friends and mentors; the social, family and work pressures he experienced; his attachment to the Dorsetshire landscape), it reveals the personal and emotional life of a public figure who has, despite his fame, remained largely obscure - until now.