The Return of the Native
Complete textClym Yeobright returns to Egdon Heath with hopes that differ from those who expect him to pursue worldly success. Eustacia Vye longs to escape the same landscape, and their opposing desires become entangled with neighboring households, former attachments, and expectations of marriage.
Continue readingAbout The Return of the Native
Hardy gives the heath an enduring presence that makes individual aspirations seem both urgent and precarious. Misread intentions and missed encounters matter as much as declared choices. The changing perspectives complicate easy blame, especially where a wish for another life conflicts with the claims of family, work, and the place one inhabits.
Reading focus
Enter a landscape-centered drama where incompatible hopes for escape and belonging place love and family relationships under pressure.
This reading edition contains 141,957 words in 49 original sections. Read the text online with adjustable type and three colour themes, or keep a printable PDF.
Author: Thomas Hardy. Language: English. Reading edition: 28 October 2026.
Opening excerpt
“To sorrow I bade good morrow, And thought to leave her far away behind; But cheerly, cheerly, She loves me dearly; She is so constant to me, and so kind. I would deceive her, And so leave her, But ah! she is so constant and so kind.”
Contents
All sections- PREFACE1 min
- BOOK FIRST—THE THREE WOMEN — I. A Face on Which Time Makes but Little Impression7 min
- BOOK FIRST—THE THREE WOMEN — II. Humanity Appears upon the Scene, Hand in Hand with Trouble10 min
- BOOK FIRST—THE THREE WOMEN — III. The Custom of the Country34 min
- BOOK FIRST—THE THREE WOMEN — IV. The Halt on the Turnpike Road8 min
- BOOK FIRST—THE THREE WOMEN — V. Perplexity among Honest People21 min
- BOOK FIRST—THE THREE WOMEN — VI. The Figure against the Sky23 min
- BOOK FIRST—THE THREE WOMEN — VII. Queen of Night11 min
- BOOK FIRST—THE THREE WOMEN — VIII. Those Who Are Found Where There Is Said to Be Nobody9 min
- BOOK FIRST—THE THREE WOMEN — IX. Love Leads a Shrewd Man into Strategy17 min
- BOOK FIRST—THE THREE WOMEN — X. A Desperate Attempt at Persuasion15 min
- BOOK FIRST—THE THREE WOMEN — XI. The Dishonesty of an Honest Woman14 min
- BOOK SECOND—THE ARRIVAL — I. Tidings of the Comer8 min
- BOOK SECOND—THE ARRIVAL — II. The People at Blooms-End Make Ready8 min
- BOOK SECOND—THE ARRIVAL — III. How a Little Sound Produced a Great Dream8 min
- BOOK SECOND—THE ARRIVAL — IV. Eustacia Is Led on to an Adventure16 min
- BOOK SECOND—THE ARRIVAL — V. Through the Moonlight11 min
- BOOK SECOND—THE ARRIVAL — VI. The Two Stand Face to Face19 min
- BOOK SECOND—THE ARRIVAL — VII. A Coalition between Beauty and Oddness14 min
- BOOK SECOND—THE ARRIVAL — VIII. Firmness Is Discovered in a Gentle Heart16 min
- BOOK THIRD—THE FASCINATION — I. “My Mind to Me a Kingdom Is”8 min
- BOOK THIRD—THE FASCINATION — II. The New Course Causes Disappointment14 min
- BOOK THIRD—THE FASCINATION — III. The First Act in a Timeworn Drama23 min
- BOOK THIRD—THE FASCINATION — IV. An Hour of Bliss and Many Hours of Sadness13 min
- BOOK THIRD—THE FASCINATION — V. Sharp Words Are Spoken, and a Crisis Ensues12 min
- BOOK THIRD—THE FASCINATION — VI. Yeobright Goes, and the Breach Is Complete12 min
- BOOK THIRD—THE FASCINATION — VII. The Morning and the Evening of a Day23 min
- BOOK THIRD—THE FASCINATION — VIII. A New Force Disturbs the Current12 min
- BOOK FOURTH—THE CLOSED DOOR — I. The Rencounter by the Pool11 min
- BOOK FOURTH—THE CLOSED DOOR — II. He Is Set upon by Adversities but He Sings a Song17 min
- BOOK FOURTH—THE CLOSED DOOR — III. She Goes Out to Battle against Depression20 min
- BOOK FOURTH—THE CLOSED DOOR — IV. Rough Coercion Is Employed12 min
- BOOK FOURTH—THE CLOSED DOOR — V. The Journey across the Heath8 min
- BOOK FOURTH—THE CLOSED DOOR — VI. A Conjuncture, and Its Result upon the Pedestrian18 min
- BOOK FOURTH—THE CLOSED DOOR — VII. The Tragic Meeting of Two Old Friends13 min
- BOOK FOURTH—THE CLOSED DOOR — VIII. Eustacia Hears of Good Fortune, and Beholds Evil13 min
- BOOK FIFTH—THE DISCOVERY — I. “Wherefore Is Light Given to Him That Is in Misery”13 min
- BOOK FIFTH—THE DISCOVERY — II. A Lurid Light Breaks in upon a Darkened Understanding15 min
- BOOK FIFTH—THE DISCOVERY — III. Eustacia Dresses Herself on a Black Morning13 min
- BOOK FIFTH—THE DISCOVERY — IV. The Ministrations of a Half-forgotten One8 min
- BOOK FIFTH—THE DISCOVERY — V. An Old Move Inadvertently Repeated11 min
- BOOK FIFTH—THE DISCOVERY — VI. Thomasin Argues with Her Cousin, and He Writes a Letter11 min
- BOOK FIFTH—THE DISCOVERY — VII. The Night of the Sixth of November14 min
- BOOK FIFTH—THE DISCOVERY — VIII. Rain, Darkness, and Anxious Wanderers17 min
- BOOK FIFTH—THE DISCOVERY — IX. Sights and Sounds Draw the Wanderers Together18 min
- BOOK SIXTH—AFTERCOURSES — I. The Inevitable Movement Onward15 min
- BOOK SIXTH—AFTERCOURSES — II. Thomasin Walks in a Green Place by the Roman Road6 min
- BOOK SIXTH—AFTERCOURSES — III. The Serious Discourse of Clym with His Cousin9 min
- BOOK SIXTH—AFTERCOURSES — IV. Cheerfulness Again Asserts Itself at Blooms-End, and Clym Finds His Vocation17 min
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