Oxford World's Classics A Pair of Blue Eyes, (Paperback)

from Michael.Xolotl

4 ½ stars. What seems at first (and is really) a typical 19th century light romance, with all the attendant silliness, is actually a pretty astute study of innocent deceit, the pitfalls of over-idealization, the social constraints of being a woman, the sometimes minute differences between love an...

from gypsysmom

Well, now we're getting into the Thomas Hardy that is known from his more famous novels like Tess of the D'Ubervilles. In this novel, first published in 1873, Elfride Swancourt, daughter of a clergyman, is wooed by a series of men. The title refers to Elfride's eyes described by Hardy on the firs...

from Schmerguls

4902. A Pair of Blue Eyes, by Thomas Hardy (read 9 Feb 2012) This novel was first published in 1873. It is the 10th Hardy novel I have read and though it does not rank with Hardy's best works (Tess,The Mayor of Casterbridge, and Far From the Madding Crowd) i found it held my attention well, and t...

from N.W.Moors

I thought I'd read most Thomas Hardy books, but found this one after a trip to Boscastle (the setting for the book). Elfride Swancourt is the daughter of the local vicar. When a young man comes to examine the church for rebuilding, he is smitten. Elfride feels likewise, but Stephen is (in her fat...

from

This is another unhappy ending tale of two (three or four) suitors who fall for one lady, the lovely (especially her hair) but hapless Elfride Swancourt. Smith and Knight are the main protagonists. Smith is too young, superficial and of an inferior class. Knight, older, wiser, with the right cred...