Im not sure why I liked it so much- not much happened and I didn’t really like lady Constantine. I think it was the writing. I thought it was an easy enjoyable read

WHAT HAPPENED?
Lady constatine is an older woman whos husband forbids her to socialize because he isjealous then leaves and LC falls in love with a young astronomer
They find out that LC husband is dead and so they get married in secret. Their whole affair takes place in an astronomy tower.
LC is seems embarrassed by swithin and doesn’t want their relationship public without him having status so that her reputation isn’t ruined
Switihin gets a letter from an uncle saying that he will get money as long as he doesn’t get married
LC and swithin find out that they got married whist her husband was stil alive so their marriage isn’t actually legal
LC finds out about the money from the uncle and refuses to remarry swithin ( a redeeming quality) so that he can focus on his work
Soon after he leaves she gets married to the bishop and has a baby not long after which is obviously swithins
Bishop dies
Swithin comes home and is like nah LC I actually want to marry you and then she died and swithin took his son (not realizing that it was his son)
The final line of the book is very strong. The bishop was avenged.

Two on a Tower is definitely not as good as Far from the Madding Crowd or Tess of the d'Ubervilles, but it was such a quick and fun read. My dearest Thomas Hardy, you did it again.

You read Thomas Hardy because you don't want to deal with the romanticism, sugar-coated stories that are fed to us on a daily basis, whether through movies or best-selling fiction, and also because you know you're going to get a kick out of his criticisms of Victorian culture. As always, Hardy is a pleasure to read. You get slang, architectural references, references to classical poetry and a pretty melodramatic ending that you wouldn't expect, but then you realize that you were expecting it, but just not in that specific way. Yes, I adore Hardy, he can do no wrong. Read it. Enjoy it. Bask in it.

Enjoyed it, but definitely not my favourite Hardy. Delivered on the plot, but not on the emotional level his novels usually do.

It was such a weird book. There were too many pages dedicated to inner monologues. Swithin was albeit an unique "hero", but I hated him. I didn't like Viviette either (such a typical Victorian mourning lady). In fact, I didn't like anyone in the book. Except maybe the tower. I'd like to visit the tower.

I did like the twists in the tale, even though they made me go *facepalm* multiple times.

(Don't I sound like a genuine English major here? Such a beautifully worded and profound review this is, I know.)

Great book, but that ending, I shouldn't let Hardy get away with that ending. It was like a parody of everything that is bad about Victorian literature, except it wasn't a parody, it was bad, it was bad and it made me happy and I loved it, despite it being terrible.

Like it was so bad, it was good again and then it went past that and was bad again. Yet Hardy somehow pulls it off.

Thomas Hardy, my man — are you okay? I am speechless at that ending.

This book is just all over town with plot. Another TH book with all kinds of tragic wild cards. I didn’t care for any of the characters too much — really, they are just controlled by the violent ocean of events, and their decisions make no sense. Not my favorite Hardy book. On to the next.