Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

I love Thomas Hardy and although Tess is not my favourite of his novels, I enjoyed re-reading this for my book club.  As with all Hardy novels, there is a lot of descriptive prose to get through but the fateful and ultimately tragic plot is worth it.  I still consider this book to be very forward thinking for its time and enjoy reading about the different roles and expectations of the male and female characters.