Desperate Measures. Return to the Homeland

Thomas Hardy is referred to as the last writer of the Victorian era. His fame is primarily due to a series of works created between 1872 and 1895, known as the character and environment novels. "Return to the Homeland" (1878) is among them, while "Desperate Measures" was written slightly earlier (1871). In these writings, Hardy's acute observation, his gift for noticing the subtlest nuances of human relationships, is fully displayed, providing a vivid picture of the morals that prevailed in the English countryside at the end of the 19th century.