A novel in which love meets astronomy. Lady Viviette Constantine, lonely in her country estate, befriends Swithin St. Cleeve, a young man of lower social standing who studies the stars from an old tower. Their friendship grows into something more, though differences of rank, age, and circumstance threaten them. Against the vast scale of the heavens, Hardy sets small human hopes and worries, giving the book an unusual and thoughtful tone.
Quotes
If you are cheerful, and wish to remain so, leave the study of astronomy alone. Of all the sciences, it alone deserves the character of the terrible.