The Return of the Native is Thomas Hardy's sixth published novel. It first appeared in the magazine Belgravia, a publication known for its sensationalism, and was presented in twelve monthly installments from January to December 1878. Thomas Hardy's novel The Return of the Native (1878) centers on two young lovers trapped in an unhappy marriage because they marry for the wrong reasons. The book highlights the problem with romantic idealism, and how we often end up in prisons of our own making. Hardy was an English novelist and poet. The novel's title The Return of the Native refers to the character Clym Yeobright, who returns home to his native Wessex in southwest England after working for a period in Paris.