16 h 5 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the house that offers you a living draws you into secrets you cannot afford to uncover?
After her father dies, Cytherea Graye must earn her living with little money and few choices. She becomes a companion to Miss Aldclyffe, the wealthy, strong-willed owner of Knapwater House. But her new mistress guards a painful past, and the estate’s polished steward, Aeneas Manston, wants more than Cytherea’s good opinion. His charm draws her toward danger.
Cytherea’s heart belongs to Edward Springrove, a kind young man whose earlier promise stands between them. In Desperate Remedies, Thomas Hardy sets love against the hard demands of money and class. His first published novel combines secrets, schemes and shocks with a sharp question: how freely can a woman choose when her livelihood depends on others?
What you’ll discover
- A precarious new life Follow Cytherea into a country house where earning a living brings dangerous entanglements.
- Love held in check Feel the strain between Cytherea and Edward as an older tie keeps them apart.
- Charm with troubling depths Meet Aeneas Manston, whose polished manners conceal a troubling story of his own.
- The price of dependence See how wealth and social position narrow the choices open to a proud young woman.
- Hardy at the beginning Discover his early rural world through a tightly plotted mystery of secrets and sudden discoveries.
Is it for you?
This book suits readers who like a Victorian plot full of secrets and suspense, and anyone curious about where Hardy began. If you want the deep tragic power of his later novels, you may find this one more mechanical.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A death leaves a family with nothing
- Love begins, but a promise stands in the way
- Miss Aldclyffe offers a post and a strange bond
- Manston arrives and a fire raises doubts
- Money, class and the cost of being a woman without means
- How Hardy builds a sensation plot with his own eye
Who’s who
- Cytherea GrayeA young, gentle and proud woman who loses her father and must earn her living, and whose heart is set on Edward Springrove.
- Owen GrayeCytherea's brother, a young architect who works hard to support the family and protect his sister.
- Edward SpringroveA kind, thoughtful young man in the architect's trade, who loves Cytherea but is bound by an older understanding.
- Miss AldclyffeThe wealthy, strong-willed owner of Knapwater House, who takes Cytherea into her service and guards a painful past.
- Aeneas ManstonThe handsome, polished steward of the estate, who has a troubling story behind him and wishes to win Cytherea.
- Adelaide HintonEdward's cousin, to whom he has an old and complicated tie that stands between him and Cytherea.
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- Large print hardcover
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Verzweifelte Heilmittel
by Thomas Hardy· 1871
A young woman's new employment draws her into dangerous secrets.
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Language: Deutsch
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
A death leaves a family with nothing
The story begins with the Graye family. Cytherea and her brother Owen are the grown children of an architect who dies after a fall from a scaffold. His death takes away their home, their income and their place in the world. Owen has trained as an architect himself, just as Hardy had, so the trade of drawing plans and watching buildings rise runs through the book from the start.
The loss matters because the Graye children belong to the genteel class but have no money to match. Hardy shows how thin that line is. They are educated and well mannered, yet one accident leaves them to find work where they can. For a young woman of the time, the choices are few and all of them involve depending on someone else.
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The author
Thomas Hardy
1840–1928 · English novelist and poet
Thomas Hardy (1840–1928) was an English novelist and poet. He was born in Dorset and lived in Dorset and London. His novels include Far from the Madding Crowd (1874), The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), and Tess of the d’Urbervilles (1891). He published poetry collections from 1898 until his death.
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What is Desperate Remedies about?
It follows Cytherea Graye, a young woman left poor after her father's death, who takes a post at a country house. There she meets a charming steward and gets caught up in secrets from the past.
Was Desperate Remedies Thomas Hardy's first novel?
It was the first novel he published, in 1871, and it came out without his name. He had written an earlier novel that was never printed. He wrote it while working as an architect.
Is Desperate Remedies a mystery novel?
Yes, in the manner of a Victorian sensation novel. It has hidden identities, doubtful deaths, secrets and suspense, in the style of Wilkie Collins, though it also shows Hardy's interest in rural life and class.
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