Staff Pick
This dark novel begins with a man who, in a drunken rage, sells his wife and daughter at a fair. Full of remorse upon realizing what he has done, he vows to redeem his life — and does so. Yet his secret weighs heavily on him. Hardy is his usual brooding, heartrending self here, but to a beautiful, profound effect. Recommended By Dianah H., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
Set against the backdrop of peaceful south-west England, where Thomas Hardy spent much of his youth, The Mayor of Casterbridge captures the author's unique genius for depicting the absurdity underlying much of the sorrow and humor in our lives. Michael Henchard is an out-of-work hay-trusser who gets drunk at a local fair and impulsively sells his wife Susan and baby daughter. Eighteen years later Susan and her daughter seek him out, only to discover that he has become the most prominent man in Casterbridge. Henchard attempts to make amends for his youthful misdeeds but his unchanged impulsiveness clouds his relationships in love as well as his fortunes in business. Although Henchard is fated to be a modern-day tragic hero, unable to survive in the new commercial world, his story is also a journey towards love. This edition is the only critically established text of the novel, based on a comprehensive study of the manuscript and Hardy's extensive revisions.
Synopsis
A cruel joke at a country fair goes too far when a drunken laborer auctions off his wife and child to the highest bidder. Rich in descriptive powers and steeped in irony, Hardy's gripping tale unfolds amid a rural English community. It offers a spellbinding portrayal of ambition, rivalry, revenge, and repentance.
Synopsis
A drunken laborer sells his wife and child and spends his life trying to atone for his wrongdoing and#151; while clinging to his social status. A spellbinding portrayal of ambition, rivalry, revenge, and repentance.
Synopsis
The great Victorian writer Thomas Hardy occupies the unique position of being both a major novelist and a poet. Such masterworks as
The Return of the Native and
Tess of the D'Urbervilles make Hardy required reading in literature courses.
The Mayor of Casterbridge displays all the elements that have made Hardy so enduringly significant and popular: a well-crafted plot, brilliant psychological insight into his characters, an evocative rural English setting, and an absolute command of the novelist's art.
Synopsis
A cruel joke at a country fair goes too far when a drunken laborer auctions off his wife and child to the highest bidder. So begins The Mayor of Casterbridge, Thomas Hardy's gripping tale of a man's rise and fall amid the natural beauty and human brutality of a rural English community. First published serially in 1886, the novel was an immediate success with critics, who praised its realism and poetic style. Rich in descriptive powers and steeped in irony, this timeless tale offers a spellbinding portrayal of ambition, rivalry, revenge, and repentance.
About the Author
Tragedy haunts the works of Thomas Hardy (1840and#8211;1928), whose fiction abounds in star-crossed lovers and other characters thwarted by fate or their own shortcomings. Hardy's outspoken criticism of Victorian society excited such profound controversy that the author abandoned fiction and in the 20th century published only poetry.