Lock, Charles, "Hardy and the Nature of Fiction" in Thomas Hardy, St. Martin's Press, 1992, pp. 84—138.

This chapter of Lock's study of Hardy focuses on Hardy's artistic theory, drawn from his fiction and other writings.

Ray, Martin, The Life and Work of Thomas Hardy: Allusions and Annotations, Thomas Hardy Association, 2003, CD-ROM.

Hardy's works in general, and this novel in particular, are packed with references to folk songs and other writers. This work catalogs the exact sources for references to Shelley, Wordsworth, Milton, Tennyson, Swinburne, Byron, and Keats, along with Shakespeare and the Bible.

Stewart, J. I. M., Thomas Hardy: A Critical Biography, Longman, 1971.

Stewart gives detailed background information for each of the major novels.

Zabel, Morton Dauwen, "Hardy in Defense of His Art: The Aesthetic of Incongruity," in Hardy: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Albert J. Guerard, Prentice-Hall, 1963, pp. 24—45; originally published in...