Can desire, that never-ending pursuit of something magical and special - be ever satisfied? This last novel by 19th century realist Thomas Hardy (Tess of the D'Ubervilles, Jude The Obscure, Far From The Madding Crowd) tells the story of the sculptor Jocelyn Pierston's search for the ideal woman, through three generations of a Portland family. One of Hardy's most neglected novels and a precursor to Shaw's Pygmalion, it is a semi-autobiographical tale of an artist pursuing his muse through the forms of many women.