The d'Urberville Inheritance

About the Book

When Tess makes a last appeal that Angel should marry her sister Liza-Lu, she could not have realised what an improvident request she was making. Although she had their best interests at heart, for she loved them both dearly, could it in all honesty be called a lucid, reasonable request? How could the soon to be widowed husband refuse the woman he loved her last wish? But, in spite of the illegality of the union and a protestation based on those grounds, he finally agreed.

After a decent period of mourning, the young and naive Liza-Lu becomes Mrs. Eliza Louisa Clare. The marriage begins with an idyllic honeymoon and soon Eliza is with child but contrariety between the couple soon starts to emerge. She, lacking education, wishes to improve herself in order to become his social equal; he, in spite of ambitious plans for their future, wants Liza-Lu to remain an innocent peasant girl to help and support him on the farm.

In the ensuing months, Liza-Lu appears to be following in her sister’s faltering, sorrowful footsteps. Will her life follow a similar pattern or does she have the necessary sense and sensibility to learn from her sister’s mistakes?

About the Author

Patricia Dolling-Mann studied with the Open University gaining an honours degree in English History and Literature. Weatherbury Farm, a sequel to Thomas Hardy’s Far From the Madding Crowd, was published in 1999. A Claim to Kin, published in 2001. The d’Urberville Inheritance is a sequel to Tess of the d'Uurbervilles.