Tess of the d’Urbervilles

Hardy’s 1891 novel, subtitled A Pure Woman, which is the provocation. Tess is sent to claim kinship with a rich family, is assaulted by Alec d’Urberville, bears a child who dies, and is later abandoned by Angel Clare on their wedding night for a past he cannot forgive but shares. The outrage the book caused was the point. Hardy is merciless about a morality that punishes only one party.