Thomas Hardy. born June 2, 1840, was a British novelist, short story writer, and poet of the naturalist movement who delineated characters struggling against their passions and circumstances. The bulk of his work, set mainly in the semi-imaginary county of Wessex, is marked by poetic descriptions and fatalism. Some of Hardy's most famous works include Far from the Madding Crowd, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, and Jude the Obscure. Hardy died January 11, 1928.