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Cover of Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

Far from the Madding Crowd

Thomas Hardy

  • 424 pages · about 7 hours
  • First published 1874
  • 250 editions
  • Free to read
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1 About this book

Independent and spirited Bathsheba Everdene has come to Weatherbury to take up her position as a farmer on the largest estate in the area. Her bold presence draws three very different suitors: the gentleman-farmer Boldwood, soldier-seducer Sergeant Troy and the devoted shepherd Gabriel Oak.

Each, in contrasting ways, unsettles her decisions and complicates her life, and tragedy ensues, threatening the stability of the whole community. The first of his works set in the fictional county of Wessex, Hardy's novel of swift passion and slow courtship is imbued with his evocative descriptions of rural life and landscapes, and with unflinching honesty about sexual relationships.

Good for readers who want: a love story, a classic, and a book they can read free online.

  • Romance, historical
  • Classics
  • Christian, romance
  • Family life
  • Romance
  • Romance-language fiction
  • Courtship
  • Farm life

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3 About Thomas Hardy

1840–1928

Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist, poet and architect. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Wordsworth. He was highly critical of much in Victorian society, especially on the declining status of rural people in Britain such as those from his native South West England.

Bio adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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