“It may have been observed that there is no regular path for getting outof love as there is for getting in. Some people look upon marriage as ashort cut that way, but it has been known to fail.”

Victorian English novelist and poet, Thomas Hardy is best known for his novels exploring rural life and human suffering, particularly *Tess of the d’Urbervilles* and *Jude the Obscure*. His later work shifted toward poetry, where he grappled with themes of mortality and the passage of time.