Far from the Madding Crowd

Thomas Hardy

Random House, Dec 14, 2010 - Fiction - 448 pages

'Vital, passionate, spirited - from the moment Bathsheba appears she is beguiling' Independent

When Bathsheba Everdean arrives in the small village of Weatherbury she captures the heart of three very different men; Gabriel Oak, a quiet shepherd, the proud, obdurate Farmer Boldwood and dashing, unscrupulous Sergeant Troy. The battle for her affections will have dramatic, tragic and surprising consequences in this classic tale of love and misunderstanding.

Contents

• Description of Farmer Oak An Incident: 5
• Night The Flock An Interior Another Interior: 11
• A Girl on Horseback Conversation: 20
• Gabriels Resolve The Visit The Mistake: 29
• Departure of Bathsheba A Pastoral Tragedy: 39
• The Fair The Journey The Fire: 45
• Recognition A Timid Girl: 56
• The Malthouse The Chat News: 60
• The Homestead A Visitor HalfConfidences: 79
• Mistress and Men: 86
• Outside the Barracks Snow A Meeting: 93
• Farmers A Rule An Exception: 99
• Sortes Sanctorum The Valentine: 104
• Effect of the Letter Sunrise: 109
• A Morning Meeting The Letter again: 114
• All Saints and All Souls: 125
• In the Marketplace: 128
• Boldwood in Meditation Regret: 131
• The Sheepwashing The Offer: 136
• Perplexity Grinding the Shears A Quarrel: 142
• Troubles in the Fold A Message: 149
• The Great Barn and the Sheepshearers: 156
• Eventide A Second Declaration: 167
• The same Night The Fir Plantation: 174
• The New Acquaintance described: 181
• Scene on the Verge of the Haymead: 185
• Hiving the Bees: 195
• The Hollow amid the Ferns: 199
• Particulars of a Twilight Walk: 205
• Hot Cheeks and Tearful Eyes: 213
• Blame Fury: 218
• Night Horses tramping: 227
• In the Sun A Harbinger: 236
• Home again A Trickster: 245
• At an Upper Window: 256
• Wealth in Jeopardy The Revel: 260
• The Storm The Two together: 269
• Rain One Solitary meets Another: 276
• Coming Home A Cry: 280
• On Casterbridge Highway: 285
• Suspicion Fanny is sent for: 292
• Joseph and his Burden Bucks Head: 303
• Fannys Revenge: 315
• Under a Tree Reaction: 326
• Troys Romanticism: 334
• its Doings: 339
• Adventures by the Shore: 347
• Doubts arise Doubts linger: 350
• Oaks Advancement A Great Hope: 356
• The Sheep FairTroy touches his Wifes Hand: 362
• Bathsheba talks with her Outrider: 377
• Converging Courses: 386
• Concurritur Hora Momento: 397
• After the Shock: 409
• The March Following Bathsheba Boldwood: 414
• Beauty in Loneliness After all: 419
• A Foggy Night and Morning Conclusion: 429

About the author

Thomas Hardy was born on 2 June 1840. His father was a stonemason. He was brought up near Dorchester and trained as an architect. In 1868 his work took him to St Juliot's church in Cornwall where he met his wife-to-be, Emma. His first novel, The Poor Man and the Lady, was rejected by publishers but Desperate Remedies was published in 1871 and this was rapidly followed by Under the Greenwood Tree (1872), A Pair of Blue Eyes (1873) and Far from the Madding Crowd (1874). He also wrote many other novels, poems and short stories. Tess of the D'Urbervilles was published in 1891. His final novel was Jude the Obscure (1895). Hardy was awarded the Order of Merit in 1920 and the gold medal of the Royal Society of Literature in 1912. His wife died in 1912 and he later married his secretary. Thomas Hardy died 11 January 1928.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Far from the Madding Crowd
• Author: Thomas Hardy
• Publisher: Random House, 2010
• ISBN: 1409059553, 9781409059554
• Length: 448 pages
• Subjects: Fiction / Classics