When Tess Durbeyfield is driven by family poverty to claim kinship with the wealthy D'Urbervilles and seek a portion of their family fortune, meeting her 'cousin' Alec proves to be her downfall.
The classic tale of Tess Durbeyfield, wronged by two men and driven to vengeful murder, shows Hardy at his most fatalistic. Hardy felt that this was the finest of his novels, and that Tess was the most deeply felt character he ever created.