Threadcreep here for Rowan -

Thomas Hardy died in 1928, his last novel having been published some 32 years previously (1896, 'Jude the Obscure' - dubbed by critics as 'Jude the Obscene' whereupon Hardy vowed never to write another novel and stuck to poetry instead - much to the delight of every schoolchild after). The article you saw, if it was dated 1930 and was about a new novel, would not have been Thomas Hardy. It may have been a local author - I can't find any others named Hardy who were publishing at that time. Sorry.

LTS