The Return of the Native – Thomas Hardy

"To be loved to madness—such was her great desire."

Clym Yeobright returns from Paris to his native Egdon Heath, intending to become a schoolteacher. He marries the passionate Eustacia Vye, who dreams of escaping the heath for the excitement of the city. Their incompatible dreams lead to a tragedy of misunderstandings, blindness, and death, played out against the somber, timeless backdrop of the heath.

Thomas Hardy's novel is a masterpiece of atmosphere. The heath itself is the main character, an indifferent force of nature that dwarfs the human dramas played out upon it. It explores the conflict between modern ambition and traditional ways of life.