Proud, passionate Eustacia Vye marries Clym Yeobright in the hope that he will help her escape her cramped rural existence.
But when their relationship falters and her old lover Damon Wildeve reappears with an unexpected inheritance, Eustacia is faced with a series of decisions upon which multiple lives depend.
In a world where misunderstandings can be fatal, this atmospheric tragedy moves inevitably towards a disastrous climax on the brooding wilds of Egdon Heath.