The Hand of Ethelberta
Thomas Hardy1876

When she publishes a collection of remarkable poems, Ethelberta Petherwin becomes an overnight sensation. Sought after everywhere, she is invited to some of London's most select households, charming and captivating all who make her acquaintance.
What her hosts and admirers do not know, however, is her secret past and the humble origins it betrays. Trapped by convention, she cannot acknowledge her true identity and is forced towards marriage with a wealthy older man rather than with the penniless young composer she really loves.

Deliberately seeking to write a story with a London 'society' setting, Hardy draws heavily on his own early experiences of the literary world and presents an unflattering portrait of the cultural elite that dominated the tastes and mores of his age.

Titre original : The Hand of Ethelberta (1876)