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Hi all! Our last read for the year is Desperate Remedies by Thomas Hardy.

Desperate Remedies is Hardy's first published novel. After his disappointment in being unable to publish his first novel, Hardy was advised to write "a novel with a purely artistic purpose, giving it a more "complicated" plot.." And that was what he did, curiously choosing the mystery genre. Though first published anonymously, the novel's success brought Hardy into the Victorian limelight. The result was the long string of novels that we admire today.

Thomas Hardy was a Victorian novelist and poet. Being a Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Wordsworth. He was highly critical of much in Victorian society, especially on the declining status of rural people in Britain, such as those from his native South West England.

Source: Wikipedia

You can find a comprehensive biography of the author in here:

Reading Schedule:

Week 1: Chapters 1-3 (Nov. 12 - 18)
Week 2: Chapters 4-6 (Nov. 19 - 25)
Week 3: Chapters 7-9 (Nov. 26 - Dec. 2)
Week 4: Chapters 10 -12 (Dec. 3 -9)
Week 5: Chapters 13 - 15 (Dec. 10 - 16)
Week 6: Chapters 16 - 18 (Dec. 17 - 23)
Week 7: Chapters 19 - 21, and the sequel (Dec. 24 - 30)

Great choice, Piyangie ! I read it 10 years ago, and can't wait to go through it again with the group :)

Hello all. I will join you. Looking forward to read this book with a group.

Thanks, Brian. Nice to have you and Lorraine joining in.

I´m always in for a Hardy, how unknown this even is to me. :)

Any tips for a Kindle edition? (I don´t like to read from my laptop screen.)

Below is a link to Project Gutenberg. It should take you right to the page for downloads of Hardy’s Desperate Remedies. (If I didn’t mess it up.) I saw two options for Kindle; with one being for older Kindles.

Thanks Renee! :)

I didn´t find out how to download those on my Kindle, but remembered I had a collection of Hardy novels there, so I´ll read this edition, hoping it´s good.

Glad to hear you're joining in, Michaela. Sorry to hear that the Kindle version didn't work for you. I use free Kindle editions from Amazon sometimes. But you need a kindle app for that.

I'm hoping to join this as I love Hardy (at least until his much later/more depressing period) and have not read or even heard of this one.

This sounds good; I'm always interested in Hardy

This one's been on my to read list for ages. I'll try and join in.

Hi, I would like to join this discussion since this book is on my TBR pile.

Welcome, Frances, LiLi, Lady C, and Melanie! Glad to have all of you aboard.

I will also be joining the group.

Great to have you, too, Nancy.

I will also be reading it and I am looking forward to it!

Welcome, Gonza! Hope you'll enjoy reading and discussing this Hardy work with us.

Although I've read Desperate Remedies it's been 12 years, just a bit longer than Brian. Since the last few Group Reads have been Dickens or books I've read I haven't joined one since Felix Holt and I miss it. So I'm joining in.

Welcome, Brian! Glad to have you joining in. Looking forward to your insightful comments.

Piyangie wrote: "Looking forward to your insightful comments."

So now I have to make my comments insightful? Oh, that's just great.

I've always felt your comments on books to be insightful. Hence the word. Sorry if it made you uneasy. :)

Piyangie wrote: "I've always felt your comments on books to be insightful. Hence the word. Sorry if it made you uneasy. :)"

No apologies needed. I understand completely. People often have mistaken impressions of the quality of my posts when I'm in GR groups that Brian Fagan is in too ;)

Dear all! A very good day to you. I'm yet to open the next thread. Due to some personal circumstances, I won't be able to post the summary for the next two weeks' segments (4th and 5th). I apologize for my inability. Please bear with me. I promise to post the summaries as usual for weeks 6 and 7. Meanwhile, the threads will be opened for you to discuss the sections. Thank you for your understanding.

No apologies necessary, Piyangie-thanks for all the work you do on this and I hope whatever is in your way gets sorted smoothly and quickly. We will chat among ourselves and look forward to your return whenever you're able.

Thanks, Frances.