The Mayor of Casterbridge

Five guineas is all it took for an out-of-work labourer named Michael Henchard to sell his wife and infant daughter at a county fair! Now, years later, Michael has climbed the ladder of prosperity and success in the Casterbridge community, but his past actions continue to haunt him. The ghosts of his past confront him when his wife and daughter return to Casterbridge. Will the tragically flawed Michael Henchard be successful in keeping his family together, or will his pride and fury result in his downfall? Set against a beautiful rural landscape, Hardy takes us on a dramatic journey and makes us question . . . what is ＂a man of character＂? Other titles by Thomas Hardy: Far From The Madding Crowd, Tess of The d’Urbervilles. A timeless classic from one of the most renowned writers in the history of English literature. - A novel that explores the themes of self-destruction, loyalty, and love. - What it takes to be ＂a man of character＂? - What is the cost of prosperity and success? - Will Henchard be successful in keeping his family together? - One of Thomas Hardy’s most celebrated works!

Thomas Hardy was born in a cottage in Higher Bockhampton, near Dorchester, on 2 June 1840. He was educated locally and at sixteen was articled to a Dorchester architect, John Hicks. In 1862 he moved to London and found employment with another architect, Arthur Blomfield. He now began to write poetry and published an essay. By 1867 he had returned to Dorset to work as Hicks’s assistant and began his first (unpublished) novel, ＂The Poor Man and the Lady＂. On an architectural visit to St Juliot in Cornwall in 1870 he met his first wife, Emma Gifford. Before their marriage in 1874 he had published four novels and was earning his living as a writer. More novels followed and in 1878 the Hardys moved from Dorset to the London literary scene. But in 1885, after building his house at Max Gate near Dorchester, Hardy again returned to Dorset. He then produced most of his major novels: The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), The Woodlanders (1887), Tess of the D’Urbervilles (1891), The Pursuit of the Well-Beloved (1892) and Jude the Obscure (1895).