The Withered Arm, Thomas Hardy
The Withered Arm, Thomas Hardy
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The Withered Arm

Author: Thomas Hardy

Narrator: Cathy Dobson

Unabridged: 1 hr 7 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/27/2013


Synopsis

Thomas Hardy's sinister tale of jealousy, unrequited love and a mysterious and hideous curse. When Farmer Lodge brings his new wife home, nobody is more resentful and yet curious about her than his spurned former lover, Rhoda Brooke. But a terrifying and supernatural nightmare in which the two women fight, leaves strange and sinister marks on the young wife's arm. Over the weeks and months that follow, the arm begins to wither and wrinkle. She seeks every possible cure, resorting in the end to consulting a mysterious conjurer. The remedy he proposes is too horrible to contemplate... and yet, the young woman feels she has no other choice...Gripping!

About Thomas Hardy

Thomas Hardy (1840–1928) was an English poet and regional novelist whose works depict the county "Wessex," named after the ancient kingdom of Alfred the Great. Hardy's career as a writer spanned over fifty years, and his work reflected his stoic pessimism and sense of tragedy in human life.

Hardy was born in the village of Higher Bockhampton to a master mason. Hardy's mother, whose tastes included Latin poets and French romances, provided for his education. After schooling in Dorchester, Hardy was apprenticed to an architect. In 1874, Hardy married Emma Lavinia Gifford, for whom he wrote (after her death) a group of poems known as Veteris Vestigiae Flammae ("Vestiges of an Old Flame").

At the age of twenty-two, Hardy moved to London and started to write poems that idealized the rural life. An assistant in the architectural firm of Arthur Blomfield, Hardy visited art galleries, attended evening classes in French at King's College, enjoyed Shakespeare and opera, and read works of Charles Darwin, Herbert Spencer, and John Stuart Mills. In 1867 Hardy left London for the family home in Dorset. There, he continued his architectural career but started to consider literature his "true vocation."

Initially, Hardy did not find an audience for his poetry, and the novelist George Meredith advised Hardy to write a novel. The Poor Man and the Lady, written in 1867, was rejected by many publishers, and Hardy destroyed the manuscript. His first book to gain notice was Far from the Madding Crowd. After its success, Hardy was convinced that he could earn his living with his pen. Devoting himself entirely to writing, Hardy produced a series of novels, including Tess of the D'Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure, both of which met with public disapproval due to their unconventional subjects. This controversy led Hardy to announce that he would never write fiction again.

After giving up the novel, Hardy brought out a first group of Wessex poems, some of which had been composed thirty years before. During the remainder of his life, hecontinued to publish several collections of poems. Upon the death of his friend George Meredith, Hardy succeeded to the presidency of the Society of Authors in 1909. King George V conferred on him the Order of Merit, and in 1912 he received the gold medal of the Royal Society of Literature.

After Emma Hardy died, Thomas married his secretary, Florence Emily Dugdale. From 1920 through 1927 Hardy concentrated on his autobiography, which was disguised as the work of Florence Hardy. It appeared in two volumes. Hardy's last book was Human Shows, Far Phantasies, Songs and Trifles. His Winter Words in Various Moods and Metres appeared posthumously in 1928. Hardy died in Dorchester, Dorset, on January 11, 1928.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Peter on March 31, 2019

A rich milk farmer marries a beautiful young woman named Gertrude. Rhoda Brooks, a milkmaid with a son is envious and touches in her dream the arm of the newly wed wife. It begins to wither away. Is there a solution for Gertrude? Can a conjurer help her when all official physicians fail? What is the......more

Goodreads review by Carme on October 09, 2020

De haber sido una novela y no un relato, tal vez hubiera salido mejor. Thomas Hardy nos dibuja, como viene siendo costumbre en su obra, una tragedia rozando en lo bizarro, donde dos mujeres terminan por ser la perdición de la contraria. Lo gracioso, o no tanto, es que todo empieza por un hombre. Po......more

Goodreads review by Magrat on June 01, 2016

Hardy ha vuelto a sorprenderme con una novela corta muy tenebrosa con retazos de fantasía oscura de por medio. Las ilustraciones de Julia Sardá simplemente PERFECTAS......more

Goodreads review by Bren on March 15, 2019

Un relato gótico bastante bueno, realmente sorprendente, sobre todo el final. Tom Hardy logra plasmar a la perfección la personalidad de dos mujeres que no pueden ser más diferentes y que, sin embargo, bien podrían ser amigas, pero circunstancias ajenas a ellas las deja en una situación bastante com......more

Goodreads review by Marjolein (UrlPhantomhive) on July 27, 2020

3.5 Stars The Withered Arm was a nice addition to the Little Black Classics collection. It has a bit of that late 19th Century feel to it with a story of a new bride who gets cursed through one of her dreams. It was an interesting story. The only thing I had previously read by Thomas Hardy was Woman M......more