The Pursuit Of The Well Beloved

The Pursuit of the Well-Beloved is a novel by Thomas Hardy, published in 1892. The story is set in the fictional town of Budmouth, a seaside resort in England, and follows the life of Jocelyn Pierston, a sculptor who becomes obsessed with a woman he calls his ""Well-Beloved"". The novel is divided into three parts, each representing a different stage in Pierston's life. In the first part, he is a young man who falls in love with a woman named Avice Caro. Despite his devotion, Avice rejects him and marries someone else. In the second part, Pierston becomes a successful sculptor and travels the world in search of his ideal woman, whom he believes he will recognize by her beauty. He meets and falls in love with several women, but none of them match his ideal. In the third and final part, Pierston returns to Budmouth and meets a woman named Marcia, who he believes is his Well-Beloved. However, she turns out to be Avice's daughter, and Pierston realizes that he has been pursuing an ideal that does not exist. He ultimately accepts that he will never find his Well-Beloved and settles for a more practical relationship with Marcia. The novel explores themes of love, obsession, and the search for perfection. It is considered one of Hardy's lesser-known works, but has been praised for its poetic language and vivid descriptions of the English countryside.Serial version that Hardy later reworked into the longer tale.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.