Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy - Thomas Hardy's last finished novel and published in 1895, 'Jude the Obscure', is widely considered to be his best. Hardy explores all the big issues: class, faith, hope, love, sex. In the process, this seemingly simple story of a doomed love affair transcends the Victorian era in which it is set, making it a timeless classic, a universal tale of longing and despair. 'Jude the Obscure' is also one of his most gloomily fatalistic, depicting the lives of individua ...