A Pair of Blue Eyes

A Pair of Blue Eyes is a novel written by Thomas Hardy and first published in 1873.

Elfride Swancourt is a charming young woman who lives in a small village on the coast of England. She is the daughter of a vicar and her life is simple and quiet. Her life is about to change when she meets Stephen Smith, a young architect who stirs Elfride's emotions.

However, Smith's family is lower class, as his father is a bricklayer, and this causes rejection from the Swancourt family, who try to keep him away from their daughter. To complicate matters further, a mature man of letters, Henry Knight, arrives on the scene and also attracts Elfride's attention, creating a love triangle between the two men and the young woman.

The novel deals with themes of social inequality, prejudice and the consequences of our choices.

"Elfride Swancourt was a girl whose emotions lay very near the surface. Their nature more precisely, and as modified by the creeping hours of time, was known only to those who watched the circumstances of her history."