''The Well-Beloved: A Sketch of a Temperament'' is a novel by Thomas Hardy. It spans forty years, and follows Jocelyn Pierston, a celebrated sculptor who attempts to create in stone the image of his ideal woman, while he tries also to find her in the flesh. It was serialized in 1892, and published as a book in 1897.

Kevin McGowin Kevin McGowin (1970 in Birmingham, Alabama – January 18, 2005 in Birmingham) was an American writer, college teacher and typewriter enthusiast. Holding degrees in literature from Auburn University at Montgomery and the University of Florida, he ...

Review of ''Thomas Hardy, The Well-Beloved''
The main setting of the novel, the Isle of Slingers, is based on the

Isle of Portland An isle is an island, land surrounded by water. The term is very common in British English British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Lexico, Oxford Dictionaries, "English language, English as used in Great Britain, as distinct fr ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

, southern England. Many of Hardy's novels were set in Dorset. ''The Well Beloved'' is one of Hardy's last novels. It was first published in three-part serial form in 1892, and then revised and re-published as a book in 1897, after Hardy's last novel ''

Jude the Obscure ''Jude the Obscure'' is a novel by Thomas Hardy, which began as a magazine serial in December 1894 and was first published in book form in 1895 (though the title page says 1896). It is Hardy's last completed novel. The protagonist, Jude Fawley ...

'' (1895). The novel tells the story of the sculptor Jocelyn Pierston's search for the ideal woman, through three generations of a Portland family. A cottage housing what is now part of Portland Museum, on the Isle of Portland, founded by

Marie Stopes Marie Charlotte Carmichael Stopes (15 October 1880 – 2 October 1958) was a British author, palaeobotanist and campaigner for eugenics and women's rights. She made significant contributions to plant palaeontology and coal classification, ...

, a friend of Hardy and his wife, was an inspiration for the book.Marie Stopes Pictures, Portland, Dorset
, Steps in Time — Images Project (SITIP) archive. The cottage acted as the home of Avice, the novel's heroine.

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* 1897 British novels Novels by Thomas Hardy Isle of Portland English novels Novels set in Dorset Novels first published in serial form Novels set on islands {{1890s-novel-stub