10 h 41 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
Under an indifferent sky, two people find a love their world gives them little room to live.
In Thomas Hardy's Two on a Tower, Lady Viviette Constantine lives alone on her absent husband's estate in Wessex. A tower on the grounds brings her into the world of Swithin St Cleeve, a young astronomer of modest means. Over a telescope, shared work slowly becomes shared feeling, giving Viviette a new sense of purpose.
But Viviette is older, married, and a woman of rank whose choices invite scrutiny. Her brother, Louis Glanville, cares about her standing, while Swithin gives his whole mind to the heavens. As their attachment deepens, class, age, and marriage press against it. Above them, the stars cast human hopes and troubles into a vast, unsettling perspective.
What you’ll discover
- A meeting above the estate Enter the tower where a lonely woman and an absorbed astronomer begin to share their worlds.
- Friendship turning into love Follow the quiet change as nights of watching stars draw Viviette and Swithin closer.
- The weight of social rules Feel how rank, marriage, and age narrow the choices open to two people.
- Human hopes beneath the stars Consider how much a single life matters against the cold scale of the universe.
- Wessex in careful detail Explore farms, villages, and great houses through Hardy's calm, observant descriptions of place.
Is it for you?
This book suits readers who like Hardy's slow, fate-shadowed Wessex tales, and anyone curious about a love story that mixes feeling with astronomy. If you want fast action or a light romance, its sober mood may feel heavy.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A tower, an estate and a lonely woman
- A young astronomer needs a place to watch
- Shared work becomes shared feeling
- Class, age and marriage stand in the way
- Small lives under a very large sky
- How Hardy tells it, and what to watch for
Who’s who
- Swithin St CleeveA young man of modest means who gives his whole mind to astronomy and needs a high place from which to watch the sky.
- Lady Viviette ConstantineAn older, lonely woman of rank who lives on her husband's estate, and who finds new purpose in the young astronomer's work.
- Sir Blount ConstantineViviette's husband, who is away abroad, and whose absence shapes her quiet life and her choices.
- Louis GlanvilleViviette's brother, a man of the world who cares about her name and standing in society.
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- Audiobook
- 10 h 41 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
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- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Zwei auf einem Turm
by Thomas Hardy· 1882
An astronomer and an older married woman fall in love.
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Language: Deutsch
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
A tower, an estate and a lonely woman
The story opens in the English countryside, on land belonging to the Constantine family. Hardy sets the scene with care. There is a great house, a village below it, and a tall tower standing apart in the grounds. The tower is the kind of monument that country owners sometimes raised, and in this book it becomes the center of the whole tale.
Lady Viviette Constantine is the woman of the house. Her husband, Sir Blount Constantine, is away abroad, and he has left her behind. She lives a quiet life with little company and little to do. Hardy shows her as intelligent and feeling, a person whose gifts have no outlet in the small round of her days.
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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 Two on a Tower about?
It is a love story between a young astronomer, Swithin St Cleeve, and an older, married noblewoman, Lady Viviette Constantine. Their bond grows around a tower used for stargazing, and it is tested by class, age and marriage.
When was Two on a Tower written?
Thomas Hardy published it in 1882. It is a work of fiction, set in his invented Wessex, the countryside of south west England, rather than a true story.
Who is Lady Viviette Constantine?
She is a lonely woman of rank who lives on her husband's estate while he is abroad. She takes an interest in the young astronomer Swithin and becomes bound up in his life and work.
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