"Weatherbury Farm," "A Claim to Kin," "The d’Urberville Inheritance" continue Thomas Hardy's stories

NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND, November 10, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- A lover of Thomas Hardy's novels and the marvellous characters and locations in his narratives, Patricia Dolling-Mann captures the spirit of his work and in one case even pens a sequel to his novel. With "Weatherbury Farm" she continues where Hardy's "Far From the Madding Crowd" left off, while " A Claim to Kin" and "The d’Urberville Inheritance" are standalone stories exploring women's lives in the Victorian era.

"Weatherbury Farm" unfolds years after Gabriel Oak and Bathsheba Everdene's marriage, with Bathsheba contending with family life and tending to her husband and three nearly grown-up children. The youths reject the careers selected for them by their parents and opt for more cosmopolitan lives, and as they become more independent, Bathsheba has the time to join Gabriel's mission to improve the conditions faced by agricultural laborers. In the face of prejudice, she forms a women's movement to promote the rights of union members' wives. In this story, readers will see a worthy continuation of Hardy's story that shows the creeping influence of industrialization on Hardy's Victorian rural scenes, exemplified by the tribulations facing the Oak family as Wessex is transformed forever.

"A Claim to Kin" follows Sarah who lives in a typical Victorian industrial town who tragically loses both her stepfather and her mother within a year, leaving her and her siblings destitute. She must search for her real father, becoming entangled in a lifestyle she desperately hoped to evade, and meets a wealthy industrialist who helps her on her quest. With this story, readers will be immersed in the multifaceted and complex relationships that exist between the characters who embody different generations and genders.

"The d’Urberville Inheritance" follows a widowed husband whose late wife's final request was for him to marry her sister, an appeal born from her love for them both, but one that shocks both the husband and the sister. Though they protest, they cannot refuse her wish. Liza-Lu marries her brother-in-law Angel and becomes Mrs. Eliza Louisa Clare, grief and mourning give way to an idyllic honeymoon and soon Eliza is with child. However, the newlyweds diverge in plans, for Eliza wishes to educate herself and become Angel's social peer while he wishes she remains an innocent peasant girl. Their intentions clash, and readers will see whether Liza-Lu follows in her sister's sorrowful footsteps or if she will learn from her sister's mistakes and create a better life for herself.

Mann’s novels will be a delight for fans of Hardy’s work as well as those of similar period pieces such as the Brontë sisters’ and the like. She provides readers with a captivating, engaging and well-realized glimpse into another time period and the lives of those struggling in those eras.


About the Author
Patricia Dolling-Mann is from Northampton, England and spent much of her life as a registered nurse. While nursing and raising her family she also took writing courses and gained an honor's degree in English Literature and History with the Open University. Now, after early retirement from nursing, she is fulfilling her lifelong ambition to write - particularly tales of Victorian life and times.

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