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Thomas Hardy, poet and novelist, and his wife Emma are struggling with their marriage. Emma's irritation is not wholly unfounded as Hardy is becoming increasingly self-absorbed in the writing of his latest novel, 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles'. The first chapters of the novel are rejected by his publishers and so starts Hardy’s battle with Victorian hypocrisy.  His relationship with his heroine Tess is more intimate than with his wife Emma in spite of her effort and willingness to help him in the edit. Jealousy eats away at Emma and for Hardy fiction and reality sometimes become indistinguishable.

But Hardy takes on the establishment and gains more and more in popularity as 'Tess' in spite of its criticism or because of it becomes a best -seller. 

Set in both London city and rural Dorset ‘Too much Succulence Mr Hardy’ charts the rise of Hardy as a novelist and the demise of his marriage to Emma. Where does the fame so longed for by Emma leave?