The well-beloved

Jocelyn Pierston wants above all to find the ideal woman, but perfection is elusive as ever. A masterful sculptor, he starts to grow obsessed with the idea of capturing beauty in stone - and the statue he calls his "well-beloved". But when he falls in love with two women from the same family, three generations apart, his thirst for perfection soon escalates into an uncontrollable desire. With its unique approach to love and marking a shift in Hardy's emotional and psychological portrayal of his characters, 'The Well-Beloved' is a compelling journey through an artist's erotic obsession and the labyrinthine world of Victorian society. A nightmare version of ´Pygmalion´, ´The Well-Beloved´ matches up to Oscar Wilde's 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' and Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' with the ultimate tale of tragic love and the pursuit of art. Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) was an English writer of poetry, novels, and short stories. He belonged to the Victorian realist tradition in English literature and was influenced by the writings of Romanticism. His novels strongly criticise Victorian society for constraining individuals in regard to marriage, education, and religion: shunning happiness in the name of social propriety. Hardy's works explore themes of love, class, and poverty with a painstaking devotion to realism. His best-known works include 'Far From the Madding Crowd', 'The Mayor of Casterbridge', 'Tess of the d'Urbervilles', and 'Jude the Obscure'.