The Return of the Native

Eustacia Vye despises her boring country village of Egdon Heath. Beautiful, headstrong, and passionate, Eustacia longs to escape her home and lead a life of romance and adventure. And when Clym Yeobright, the eponymous native, returns from Paris, Eustacia decides that she will make him fall in love with her. Soon, their lives are intertwined in an endless labyrinth of passion, tragedy, and misfortune. One of Thomas Hardy's most famous novels, The Return of the Native, caused outcry for its unapologetically bold female characters and illicit sexual content.

Eustacia Vye is a heroine to rival the likes of Vanity Fair's Becky Sharp or even Bridgerton's Daphne.