Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

Author: Thomas Hardy

Published: 1891
Novel. 

Tess is the oldest child of John and Joan Durbeyfield, uneducated peasants; however, John is given the impression by Parson Tringham that he may have noble blood, since Durbeyfield is a corruption of D'Urberville, the surname of a noble Norman family, then extinct. 

Two years later, Tess has found employment outside the village, where her past is not known. She works for Mr. and Mrs. Crick as a milkmaid at Tabothays Dairy. There she befriends three of her fellow milkmaids, Izz, Retty and Marian, and meets again Angel Clare, now an apprentice farmer. Soon, Angel and Tess are in love. 

Characters: 

Tess Durbeyfield

Alec D'Uberville

Angel Clare

John Durbeyfield

Joan Durbeyfield

Eliza-Louise

Abraham

Modesty

Hope

Sorrow Durbeyfield/D'Uberville

Izz

Retty

Marian