The Return of the Native

An Apple Books Classic edition.

Considered by many to be Thomas Hardy’s masterpiece, The Return of the Native ensnares you in a masterfully rendered tapestry of tangled relationships and conflicting desires.

Gorgeous Eustacia longs for an exciting life far from her home in the rural Egdon Heath, which she’s come to despise. She’s sure she can find romance and adventure with Clym, a local man who’s returned after becoming a successful diamond merchant in Paris, and they soon marry.

But Clym isn’t planning on going back to France. In fact, he’s come back to Egdon Heath to found and teach at a school for the rural poor. With its web of characters all impacted by the same flawed human choices and uncaring acts of fate, this novel is deeply nuanced and incredibly modern.