NEVER MISS AN ISSUE!

Sign up to receive our monthly newsletter.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
  • This field is hidden when viewing the form

ABOUT THIS BOOK

PUBLISHER: Sparsile Books

ISBN: 9781914399398

RRP: £22.99

PAGES: 304

PUBLICATION DATE:
August 28, 2026

BUY THIS BOOK

As an Amazon Associate and Bookshop.org affiliate we earn from qualifying purchases.

When I Set Out For Lyonnesse

by Christopher Rush

Thomas Hardy’s life was as tumultuous as the novels he wrote. From his modest upbringing in rural Dorset to his rise as one of England’s greatest authors, Hardy’s journey was marked by ambition, heartbreak, and regret.

At its center was his marriage to Emma Gifford, a love that began with devotion and ended in estrangement. While Hardy found fame, Emma was left behind, her bitterness a shadow of the neglect she endured. Yet after her death, Hardy’s grief brought her back to life in his writing, a haunting echo of the love he failed to cherish.

Through fleeting infatuations, lingering guilt, and an ill-fated second marriage, Hardy’s story is one of contradictions—passion and detachment, success and sorrow.

Told with clarity and restraint, The Architect of When I Set Out For Lyonesse paints a poignant portrait of a man whose genius came at great personal cost, revealing the fragile humanity behind the enduring legend.

Share this

Christopher Rush (Author)

Christopher Rush graduated from the University of Aberdeen with a First Class Honours in English Language and Literature. He was awarded the Senatus Academicus Prize, the English Literature prize and the English Medal awarded to top scholar. Offered the Lucy Research Fellowship, tenable at Peterhouse, Cambridge, he elected instead to enter Scottish Schools spending his career schoolmastering, mostly at George Watson’s College, Edinburgh, teaching English.

 He received the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters conferred by his alma mater in 2014 in recognition of literary achievements. An Honorary Fellowship of ASLS was conferred in 2015 “…in recognition and admiration of the valued and major contribution which he has made to the support and enrichment of Scottish Literature… The honesty, scope and depth of his continuing work, not to mention his contribution as a teacher, attracts our deep respect.”

 Appearing regularly in the press, Chris is also a regular contributor to the literary journal, Slightly Foxed and has appeared with Libby Purves on her Radio 4 book programme. A regular at literary festivals, his most recent talk was at the National Library of Scotland to mark the recent 400th Shakespeare anniversary.