托馬斯·哈代(1840-1928)，英國最傑齣的鄉土小說傢、詩人，著有多部長篇小說、中短篇小說及詩集，作品多以故鄉英格蘭多切斯特為背景，富有濃厚的地方色彩。他是橫跨兩個世紀的作傢，繼承和發揚瞭維多利亞時代的文學傳統，開拓瞭英國20世紀的文學。其最著名的作品有《德伯傢的苔絲》《無名的裘德》《還鄉》《卡斯特橋市長》等。

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Hardy described "Desperate Remedies" as a tale of 'mystery, entanglement, surprise and moral obliquity'. Cytherea has taken a position as lady's maid to the eccentric arch-intriguer Miss Aldclyffe. On discovering that the man she loves, Edward Springrove, is already engaged to his cousin, Cytherea comes under the influence of Miss Aldclyffe's fascinating, manipulative steward Manston. Blackmail, murder and romance are among the ingredients of Hardy's first published novel, and in it he draws blithely on the 'sensation novel' perfected by Wilkie Collins. Several perceptive critics praised the author as a novelist with a future when Desperate Remedies appeared anonymously in 1871. In its depiction of country life and insight into psychology and sexuality, it already bears the unmistakable imprint of Hardy's genius.