Download or read book Tess of the D'Urbervilles (Study Guide) written by Thomas Hardy and published by . This book was released on 2020-01-25 with total page 467 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The novel is set in impoverished rural England, Thomas Hardy's fictional Wessex, during the Long Depression of the 1870s. Tess is the oldest child of John and Joan Durbeyfield, uneducated peasants. ... He notices Tess too late to dance with her, as he is already late for his promised return to his brothers.