Someone has given enough of the end away that a spoiler alert should have been mentioned way up in the top of the thread.

Please have a mudelf edit the second paragraph out of Bonnie's post at at 9:41am Sept. 16. I'm reading this thread thinking I'd like to go back and re-read Tess of the D'Urberilles, and someone new to the novel may make the decision to read it for the first time. Bonnie's post is discussing enough of the outcome to give away the bulk of the ending.

Heaven knows the characters in Hardy's novels don't encounter a simple walk in the park, but they have varying endings. Let's not spill the beans on this one while discussing the musical element of it in it's translation into film.

SRS