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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Tess of the d'Urbervilles
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: a pure woman, faithfully presented (1891) Novel by Thomas *Hardy, the subject of immediate controversy because of the contrast between subtitle and plot. Tess Durbeyfield, a country girl descended from the Norman d'Urbervilles, is seduced by Alec d'Urberville, member of a nouveau riche family which has adopted the name; her child by him dies. Happiness seems possible when she marries a parson's son, Angel Clare, but he abandons her on hearing of her past. In desperation she succumbs again to Alec, now an itinerant preacher. Angel repents and returns to her; to escape from Alec she stabs and kills him. After a brief whirlwind of happiness with Angel, hiding together in the New Forest, she is arrested at Stonehenge and is hanged.
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