The Return of the Native (CD)

Produced for radio in 1948 by 'Studio One' and read by sir Michael Redgrave (father to Vanessa and Lynn), "The Return of the Native" is as dramatic and impacting as Hardy's book, and condensed into 1 hour's worth of listening pleasure. Set in the windy highlands of Egdon Heath, "The Return of the Native" is a story of relationships, love and loss in a volatile landscape. Based on Hardy's childhood surroundings of Dorchester and the outlying countryside, the Heath is the embodiment of and the catalyst behind changes in the characters and the overall mood and tension of the plot. Clem Yeobright returns home from his education, keen for the comfort of home and full of idealistic notions. Eustacia Vye, a local girl, decides to leave her true love for him, and the very fabric of Egdon Heath starts to unravel due to the fragile threads the two un-pick in the community and in themselves through their actions.