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 villified - 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. 'In portraits, Hardy habitually looks downwards or aside, avoiding direct contact.

In this biography, Pite has caught his subject's eyes and held his gaze.' - "The Times." 'Pite is skilful, not to say ingenious, in drawing together emblems and instances of secrecy ...This new biography encourages us to re-examine Hardy's life as a complex and often self-contradictory whole; Pite's Hardy is altogether more vulnerable than Hardy's version of himself, but also more likeable.' - "Guardian."