Although the first reviews of the novel were generally good, later critics charged that the book had some serious defects. The Saturday Review called the novel "an unpleasant novel told in a very unpleasant way." Another critic, Mowbray Morris, published the letter sent to Hardy rejecting the serial when it was proposed to Macmillan's Magazine, a literary magazine whose contributors included — in addition to Hardy — Tennyson, Herbert Coleridge (grandson of S.T. Coleridge), Bret Harte, and Mowbray Morris. Harper's Weekly called Tess "artificial" and "not in the reality of any sane world we recognize." Novelist Henry James called Tess "chock-full of faults and falsities and yet [possessed of] a singular beauty and charm." Others thought the novel "not to their personal tastes in some respects, but justly appreciated its greatness in others." The Atlantic Monthly called Tess "Hardy's best novel yet."
It seems, however, that Hardy overlooked the positive reviews, and after reading Morris' review, Hardy wrote, "Well, if this sort of thing continues no more novel-writing for me." It was the hint of a vow that Hardy would fulfill, only a few years later. He would write only one more novel, Jude the Obscure.
Still, Tess continued to sell well in Hardy's time and has spawned a great wealth of literary criticism that continues even today. The negative critics have been silenced, and Tess continues to be read and reread as a classic of English literature.
