What Thomas Hardy's wife thought of their 40-year age gap

By Craig Simpson

 

Thomas Hardy and his second wife Florence 

 

There was “genuine love” between Thomas Hardy and his second wife despite a 40-year age gap, newly discovered letters reveal.

 

Hardy garnered fame and controversy for his novels such as Tess of the D’Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure, whose tragic Wessex characters often challenged sexual conventions. 

 

The novelist and poet’s 1914 decision  to marry his secretary Florence Dugdale, four decades his junior, may also have raised Edwardian eyebrows.

 

Hardy was 73 and had become a widower only two years before taking a second wife.

 

Full Story: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/04/01/thomas-hardys-wife-thought-40-year-age-gap/

Some guys are just virile.

Many women like having father figures.

A great and wonderful novelist, and a fine poet too.

25 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Many women like having father figures.

The posh house and wealthy lifestyle probably helped a bit as well.

Servants didn't have that easy a time of it in those days.

 

Edited April 2, 20206 yr by BritManToo

Return of the Native is a wonderful work, and of course highly erotic.

Yeah, go with the father figure thing. Lots of girls into this. 

When reading the headline I thought of Tom Hardy:

and his wife doesn't look 40 years older than him

Plenty of money easy to get honey. Please no snow jobs about love and such rubbish.

What they do far from the madding crowd is their own business, however this is quite an impressive feat in pre-Viagra days!

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Wm. O. Douglas married a 21-year-old student at age 65, then at age 68 married a 22-year-old waitress. That marriage lasted until his death 14 years later. He was the longest serving justice and a firm defender of the First Amendment and civil liberties.

18 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

What Thomas Hardy's wife thought of their 40-year age gap

love is blind.... age is just a number

"He was..... a firm defender"

There's his secret.