Far From the Madding Crowd: Macmillan Collector's Library

Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, especially William Wordsworth. He was highly critical of much in Victorian society, though Hardy focused more on a declining rural society. While Hardy wrote poetry throughout his life and regarded himself primarily as a poet, his first collection was not published until 1898. Initially, therefore, he gained fame as the author of such novels as Far from the Madding Crowd (1874), The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891), and Jude the Obscure (1895). During his lifetime, Hardy's poetry was acclaimed by younger poets (particularly the Georgians) who viewed him as a mentor. After his death his poems were lauded by Ezra Pound, W. H. Auden and Philip Larkin. Many of his novels concern tragic characters struggling against their passions and social circumstances and they are often set in the semi-fictional region of Wessex; initially based on the medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom, Hardy's Wessex eventually came to include the counties of Dorset, Wiltshire, Somerset, Devon, Hampshire and much of Berkshire, in southwest and south central England. He destroyed the manuscript of his first, unplaced novel, but -- encouraged by mentor and friend George Meredith -- tried again. His important work took place in an area of southern England he called Wessex, named after the English kingdom that existed before the Norman Conquest.

"Vital, passionate, spirited -- from the moment Bathsheba appears she is beguiling. You can denounce her faults -- she's selfish and capricious -- but it's hard not to admire her determined independence."
--Independent

"Hardy's Far from the Madding Crowd is the most romantic book I have ever read. I love the line where he says: 'Whenever you look up, there I shall be -- and whenever I look up there will be you.' It is very simple and understated, but also incredibly romantic."
--Liz Jensen, Independent
"Vital, passionate, spirited - from the moment Bathsheba appears she is beguiling. You can denounce her faults - she's selfish and capricious - but it's hard not to admire her determined independence" -- Di Speirs (Executive Producer Of Readings At The Bbc) Independent "Hardy's warmest and most enchanting novel" Daily Express "Hardy's Far from the Madding Crowd is the most romantic book I have ever read. I love the line where he says: "Whenever you look up, there I shall be - and whenever I look up there will be you." It is very simple and understated, but also incredibly romantic" -- Liz Jensen Independent "Hardy expounds on his favourite themes: misunderstandings, missed opportunities, unrequited love and fatal omissions" Sunday Times "The age-old dilemma - mind-blowing passion versus a man who knows how to put up shelves" Independent