by Thomas Hardy dramatised for radio in three parts by Jane Beeson
1: The autobiographical nature of this early novel caused much intrigue when it was first published. Set on the wild Cornish coast; where Hardy courted his first wife, it tells the story of Elfride, the beautiful daughter of a local parson, whose fate it is to be loved by two very different men. Her first suitor is a young architect working on her father's church, but a mystery surrounds his past which when revealed is to cause her much anguish.
Directed by Cherry Cookson