The Mayor of Casterbridge (Second Edition) (Norton Critical Editions)
, by Hardy, Thomas; Mallett, PhillipNote: Supplemental materials are not guaranteed with Rental or Used book purchases.
- ISBN: 9780393974980 | 0393974987
- Cover: Paperback
- Copyright: 10/12/2000
Thomas Hardy's first masterpiece, The Mayor of Casterbridge opens with a scene of such heartlessness and cruelty that it still shocks readers today. A poor workman named Michael Henchard, in a fit of drunken rage, sells his wife and baby daughter to a stranger at a country fair. Stricken with remorse, Henchard forswears alcohol and works hard to become a prosperous businessman and the respected mayor of Casterbridge. But he cannot erase his past. His wife ultimately returns to offer Henchard the choice of redemption or a further descent into his own self-destructive nature. A dark, complex story, The Mayor of Casterbridge brims with invention, vitality, and even wit.