She Opened the Door – The wife and women who haunted Thomas Hardy.
Available from Amazon or from the publishers, Roving Press.
The book provides a different view of Hardy from the more conventional biographies, and the chance to read an actual working play script and understand how such a work is put together. Peter John Cooper presents a more understanding view of Emma, Hardy’s first wife, imprisoned by society, circumstance and self-view within the high walls of the garden at Max Gate, the house that Thomas built for them both and which may have come to represent everything that was wrong with her life. The unhappy relationship between Emma and Jemima, Hardy’s mother, is vividly portrayed, along with the dawning of feminism in the form of ‘The Other Woman’ and ‘The Maid’, who are both equally restrained by their situations. Hardy fans will enjoy spotting references and quotations from Hardy’s own novels, poems and short stories, which Peter has cleverly interwoven into his writing.
Product details
- Paperback: 104 pages
- Publisher: Roving Press Ltd (15 Aug 2012)
- ISBN-10: 1906651183
- ISBN-13: 978-1906651183
- Product Dimensions: 20.8 x 15 x 0.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars
