14 h 52 minAudiobook14 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
On the Cornish cliffs, love faces more than a dangerous drop: birth, pride and the fear of being judged.
At Endelstow, Elfride Swancourt keeps house for her father, the vicar, with few companions and the sea close by. Then Stephen Smith arrives to survey the church. Gentle and talented, the young architect wins her heart, but his father is a mason—and Mr Swancourt wants a match of higher rank.
Henry Knight, an older London writer, brings a different kind of attraction into Elfride's life. Learned and sure of his judgment, he holds firm ideas about what a woman should be. In Thomas Hardy's A Pair of Blue Eyes, love grows under the pressure of class, reputation and a past Elfride fears revealing.
What you’ll discover
- A spirited young woman Meet Elfride in her kindness and impulsiveness as she longs for love and fears judgment.
- Love across class lines Follow Stephen as talent and ambition meet a father's pride in social rank.
- Peril on the cliffs Feel the danger of the Cornish coast in a scene that binds two lives.
- The weight of reputation Explore how fear of the past can threaten the hope of happiness.
- Tenderness edged with irony Discover a narrator who pauses over nature, time and the follies of ordinary people.
Is it for you?
This is for readers who like slow, richly set love stories, rural England and the questions of class that Victorian novels raise. It suits fans of Hardy who want to see where he began. If you want fast action or a cheerful tale, it may feel heavy.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A vicar's daughter lives by the sea
- A young architect steals her heart
- A secret flight and a failed elopement
- Stephen goes away to win a fortune
- A learned man arrives from London
- The cliff scene binds two lives together
- Class decides who may love whom
- Love, secrets and the weight of fate
- How Hardy builds his tale
Who’s who
- Elfride SwancourtThe vicar's daughter, spirited and impulsive, who loves two men and fears that her past will cost her the one she most wants to keep.
- Stephen SmithA gentle young architect, the son of a mason, who rises by talent and hopes to win Elfride despite her father's pride.
- Henry KnightA grave London reviewer and writer, once Stephen's teacher, who admires Elfride but holds a rigid ideal of what a woman should be.
- Mr SwancourtElfride's father, the genial and talkative vicar of Endelstow, who values rank and good company and wants a fitting match for his daughter.
- Lord LuxellianThe landowner whose family stands at the top of the local order and whose great house looms over the parish.
- Mrs JethwayA grieving local widow who bears a grudge against Elfride and watches her with a hostility whose cause lies in the past.
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- Audiobook
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- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
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A Pair of Blue Eyes
by Thomas Hardy· 1873
A vicar’s daughter faces love divided by class and expectations.
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Language: English
“of all books the one he would himself most gladly have written”
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 9
A vicar's daughter lives by the sea
The story opens at Endelstow, a small parish on the Cornish coast, where Elfride Swancourt keeps house for her father. Mr Swancourt is the vicar. He is hearty, fond of good company, proud of his family name and always aware of money. Elfride's mother is dead, so the girl has grown up half wild, with the cliffs and the church tower for her playground.
Hardy gives her a quick, open nature. She is not a cold beauty. She blushes, laughs, talks too much when she is nervous and plays the piano with feeling. Her eyes are the feature everyone remarks on, and the book takes its title from them. Yet the author is careful to show that she is not simply a pretty face. She has a mind of her own and a streak of daring that will lead her into trouble.
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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 A Pair of Blue Eyes about?
It follows Elfride Swancourt, a Cornish vicar's daughter, and the two men who love her. One is a young man of low birth, the other a learned writer. Class, secrets and chance shape what happens to all three.
Is A Pair of Blue Eyes based on a true story?
It is fiction, but it draws on Hardy's life. He visited St Juliot in Cornwall in 1870 as a young architect and met Emma Gifford there, who became his first wife. The setting and some feelings come from that time.
When was A Pair of Blue Eyes written and published?
Hardy wrote it in the early 1870s. It appeared in monthly parts in a magazine in 1872 and 1873 and then as a book. It was the first of his novels to carry his name.
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