Overview

A TOP BOOK FOR 2024 IN: THE OBSERVER, INDEPENDENT, SUNDAY TIMES AND BOOKSELLER 'He understands only the women he invents – the others not at all' Thomas Hardy is one of the most beloved and most-read British authors. His influence on literature and the minds of his readers is singular. But how is it that the novelist who created some of the most memorable and modern female characters in literature had such troubled relationships with real women? In this highly innovative book, acclaimed biographer Paula Byrne re-examines Hardy’s life through the eyes of the women who made him – mother, sisters, girlfriends, wives, muses. The story veers from shocking scenes such as his obsession with the sight of a woman hanged, to poignant vignettes of unfulfilled passion, to fascinating details of working women’s lives in the nineteenth century. Hardy Women is the story of how the magnificent fictional women he invented would not have been possible without the hardship and hardiness of the real ones who shaped his passions and his imagination. It is only through understanding and witnessing these hardy women that we can truly enter the heart of this great novelist and poet.

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9780008322250

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Reviews

EARLY PRAISE FOR HARDY WOMEN ‘Absorbing… a treat for Hardy fans and unhappy wives’ The Times ‘Novelist and poet Thomas Hardy created some of literature’s most enduring female characters . . . but it is the real women who shaped the life of the tortured genius that a book vividly reanimates’ Independent 'By turns infuriating and inspiring, but always fascinating, this page-turner of a book offers a genuinely fresh perspective on one of Victorian Britain’s most famous writers' Gareth Russell, author of The Palace ‘A fascinating re-examination of the life of Thomas Hardy through the eyes of the women who profoundly influenced him-his mother, his sisters, girlfriends, wives and muses. Drawing on access to some neverbefore-seen passages in Hardy's journals, she shows that it is through these hardy women that we can truly appreciate his much-loved works’ The Bookseller, Editor’s Choice

PRAISE FOR THE ADVENTURES OF MISS BARBARA PYM Picked as a Book to Look Forward to in 2021 by the Guardian, The Times and the Observer A Radio 4 Book of the Week, April 2021 ‘Engrossing … The chapters are enticingly short, and I romped through them. Each adds a vital piece of the jigsaw, explaining the provenance of her fictional characters and building up our understanding of [her] state of mind … It’s a delight to meet her again in these pages’ The Times ‘Light-hearted and lively … Byrne is an excellent literary detective, tracing acquaintances directly into the novels. The author seems to have been as fun, clever and kind as her best creations’ Lucy Atkins, Sunday Times ‘Illuminating … Byrne sees what fun Pym was, how much she liked and was fascinated by people … and has done us a great service in exploring this very unusual personality … This, like its subject’s best books, rewards reading and re-reading’ Spectator ‘Both hilarious and heartbreaking … Byrne is beautifully savvy about her subject’s fiction … as a manifesto for her genius, it is gloriously persuasive’ Daily Telegraph ‘Byrne’s book is outstanding … Just like a Pym novel, this biography is warm, funny, unexpected and deeply moving’ Financial Times ‘Excellent … Byrne’s book is the first to integrate its revelations into a cradle-to-grave biography’ Guardian, Book of the Week ‘Outstanding … meticulously researched, affectionate and fascinating in equal measure’ Daily Express ‘Wonderfully attentive and touching … Byrne’s book is such a joy. It refreshes the parts other biographies simply cannot reach’ Observer ‘Barbara Pym is one of my most favourite novelists. Few other writers have given me more laughter and more pleasure. I am therefore enchanted that this biography by Paul Byrne captures both Barbara and her writing so miraculously’ Jilly Cooper

EARLY PRAISE FOR HARDY WOMEN ‘A fascinating re-examination of the life of Thomas Hardy through the eyes of the women who profoundly influenced him-his mother, his sisters, girlfriends, wives and muses. Drawing on access to some neverbefore-seen passages in Hardy's journals, she shows that it is through these hardy women that we can truly appreciate his much-loved works’ The Bookseller, Editor’s Choice PRAISE FOR THE ADVENTURES OF MISS BARBARA PYM Picked as a Book to Look Forward to in 2021 by the Guardian, The Times and the Observer A Radio 4 Book of the Week, April 2021 ‘Engrossing … The chapters are enticingly short, and I romped through them. Each adds a vital piece of the jigsaw, explaining the provenance of her fictional characters and building up our understanding of [her] state of mind … It’s a delight to meet her again in these pages’ The Times ‘Light-hearted and lively … Byrne is an excellent literary detective, tracing acquaintances directly into the novels. The author seems to have been as fun, clever and kind as her best creations’ Lucy Atkins, Sunday Times ‘Illuminating … Byrne sees what fun Pym was, how much she liked and was fascinated by people … and has done us a great service in exploring this very unusual personality … This, like its subject’s best books, rewards reading and re-reading’ Spectator ‘Both hilarious and heartbreaking … Byrne is beautifully savvy about her subject’s fiction … as a manifesto for her genius, it is gloriously persuasive’ Daily Telegraph ‘Byrne’s book is outstanding … Just like a Pym novel, this biography is warm, funny, unexpected and deeply moving’ Financial Times ‘Excellent … Byrne’s book is the first to integrate its revelations into a cradle-to-grave biography’ Guardian, Book of the Week ‘Outstanding … meticulously researched, affectionate and fascinating in equal measure’ Daily Express

Author Information

Paula Byrne was born in Birkenhead and has a PhD from the University of Liverpool, where she is a Research Fellow in English Literature. Her first book, Jane Austen and the Theatre, was shortlisted for the Theatre Book Prize. Her second book, Perdita: The Life of Mary Robinson , the tale of the scandalous star of the 18th-century stage, literature and high-society, was a Richard and Judy bookclub pick. Her most recent book is Mad World: Evelyn Waugh and the Secrets of Brideshead. The story of Evelyn Waugh's friendship with the extraordinary aristocratic family who inspired Brideshead Revisited, it was a Sunday Times top ten bestseller. A regular contributor to the 'Times Literary Supplement', she lives in Warwickshire with her two young children and her husband, the critic and biographer Jonathan Bate.

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