The Mayor of Casterbridge

By Thomas Hardy

A man's dark secret threatens his newfound success in a close-knit town.

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448 pages

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Bookroo's summary

Michael Henchard, in a moment of rage, sells his wife and child, a decision that haunts him as he rises to prominence in Casterbridge. As his past looms, Henchard's pride and temper threaten to unravel his life. Can he escape the shadows of his own making, or will his tragic flaws lead to his downfall? Discover the gripping tale of ambition, guilt, and redemption set against the vivid backdrop of a Dorsetshire town.

From the publisher

Thomas Hardy’s haunting study of guilt and lost love, now in a beautiful new hardcover edition designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith In a fit of drunken anger, Michael Henchard sells his wife and baby daughter for five guineas at a country fair. Over the course of the following years, he manages to establish himself as a respected and prosperous pillar of the community of Casterbridge, but behind his success there always lurk the shameful secret of his past and a personality prone to self-destructive pride and temper. Subtitled “A Story of a Man of Character,” The Mayor of Casterbridge, Hardy’s powerful and sympathetic study of the heroic but deeply flawed Henchard, is also an intensely dramatic work, tragically played out against the vivid backdrop of a close-knit Dorsetshire town. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

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