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。

The young Thomas Hardy, working as an architect, but fired with literary ambition, tried for years to get into print. He finally succeeded with Desperate Remedies, a 'sensation novel' in the mode of Wilkie Collins. Here was a racy specimen of the genre, replete with sudden death, dark mysteries, intriguing clues, fire and storm, flight and pursuit. Anyone who enjoys The Woman in White is likely to enjoy Desperate Remedies. But that is only half the story. Hardy contrived also, in this unlikely context, to give a first airing to various of the ideas and technical experiments which were to characterise his later fiction. The result is an exhilaratingly uneven work: at any point in the narrative some brilliant passage of description or metaphor may burst out like a firework. Desperate Remedies can be relished both for what it is and for what it promises.