The Life and Death of the Mayor of Casterbridge: A Story of a Man of Character (Everyman's Library) - Softcover

Hardy, Thomas

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0460872796 ISBN 13: 9780460872799

Publisher: Everymans Library, 1993

Synopsis

The Mayor of Casterbridge depicts an ambitious man whose dark past returns to haunt him at the height of his success. Rural superstition, professional and romantic rivalry and blackmail prod forward his slow ruin, which echoes familiar themes in Hardy's fiction: humanity's struggle against fate and uncontrollable passions.

About this title

From the Publisher

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From the Inside Flap

A novelist and a poet, Thomas Hardy is best known and loved for his evocative portraits of rural England described in his novels. The Mayor of Casterbridge is one such tale. Set in the 1840's, this powerful story of a man who cannot escape his past is now presented in a stunning dramatization, originally conceived for BBC broadcast and produced by the world's foremost creators of radio entertainment. This exclusive production immediately engages listeners from the spectacular opening scene to the breathtaking series of discoveries at its conclusion, transporting them back in time with a full-cast, authentic sound effects, and a stirring musical score.

The Mayor of Casterbridge

Drunk on rum at a country fair, Michael Henchard sells his wife and daughter to a passing sailor for five guineas. The next day, sober and overcome with guilt and remorse, he tries in vain to find them. Abandoning his search, he takes a vow of abstinence for twenty-one years and makes his way towards the town of Casterbridge.

Nineteen years later, Henchard's wife seeks him out in Casterbridge, where, as a flourishing corn trader, he has gained both wealth and the well-respected position of mayor. His family now restored to him, his happiness should be complete, but beneath the surface still smolders the same character flaws which combine with fate to bring about his degradation and ultimate ruin.

The Mayor of Casterbridge claims a unique place among Thomas Hardy's finest and most powerful novels. Rooted in an actual case of wife-selling in early nineteenth-century England, this awesome drama of guilt and revenge introduces listeners to one of the greatest tragic heroes in fiction history.

Edition details

• Publisher: Everymans Library
• Publication date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0460872796
• ISBN 13: 9780460872799
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 576
• Editor: Norris Pamela