I really didn't enjoy this book as much as I had hoped to. I found the main character (Henry) to be one of the most irritating characters I have ever come across in literature. To call him melodramatic is the understatement of the century. I also found the other characters to be extremely flat and uninteresting.

I enjoyed this book and the various twists and turns of the story, however, I found it extremely difficult to warm up to the character Lucy. Although I understand that her nature was to be private and standoffish, she at times appeared to be rude and unfriendly, certainly not someone I would befriend in real life.

Hardy's descriptions of the English countryside are beautiful, if a bit wordy, and his characters are reasonably well developed with varying flaws. Tess, herself, is a truly pitiable character with more than her share of hardships but her quiet acceptance of life's troubles and her passionate, enduring love for Angel are what makes the story so remarkable.

I really got caught up in this story. I loved the technical jargon and Julius' descent into paranoia, but the ending kind of felt flat to me. The plot seemed to be building up to a huge cataclysmic climax but it sort of just quietly wrapped itself up. Not at all what I was expecting.

What a fabulously twisted story.