Tess is an innocent young girl until the day she goes to visit her rich `relatives`, the D`Urbervilles. Her encounter with her manipulative cousin, Alec, leads her onto a path that is beset with suffering and betrayal. When she falls in love with another man, Angel Clare, Tess sees a potential escape from her past, but only if she can tell him her shameful secret... `Gloriously physical, full of passion and irony, humour and tenderness` Anne Michaels