Thomas Hardy: A Biography Revisited Book

I just finished reading Michael Millgate's biography of Thomas Hardy. Interestingly, I read this immediately after finishing Claire Tomalin's more recent Hardy biography, Thomas Hardy. Millgate's biography is superb--scholarly and very detailed. I enjoyed it very much, but if I had to choose my favorite, I'd probably go with Tomalin's. Why? I loved the way that Tomalin integrated Hardy's poetry so seamlessly into the narrative of his interesting life. It was her great reliance and use of his poetry, from my perspective, that so fully fleshed out the man and the ideas behind those wonderful novels of his. Millgate, on the other hand, tells the full, complicated, and rich story of Hardy's life; and while Millgate features Hardy's poetry throughout the book too, it is but a part of the larger story of the man and his life. Both books are worthy and quite complementary, they are just different from one another.

In summation, if you are a dyed-in-the-wool fan of Thomas Hardy's fiction and poetry, I say that you should have both of these biographies on your bookshelf. They really are the definitive Hardy biographies, and both are quite readable. Finally, to fully round out your Hardy library, I would also recommend the addition of Rosemarie Morgan's brilliant little volume, Women and Sexuality in the Novels of Thomas Hardy.