Far from the Madding Crowd

Bathsheba Everdene is beautiful, headstrong, and fiercely independent-a woman determined to make her own way in the world. When she unexpectedly inherits her uncle’s farm in rural Wessex, she shocks society by choosing to manage it herself, proving as capable with accounts and livestock as any man.But independence comes at a price. Three very different men vie for Bathsheba’s hand: Gabriel Oak, the devoted shepherd whose quiet constancy she once spurned; William Boldwood, a wealthy neighbor whose obsessive passion she accidentally awakens; and the dashing Sergeant Troy, whose scarlet uniform and silver tongue promise romance and adventure. Each offers a different path, and Bathsheba’s choices will reshape not only her own destiny but the lives of everyone around her.Set against the timeless rhythms of the English countryside-sheep-shearing and harvests, storms and seasons-Hardy weaves a tale of love and consequence, of pride and redemption. With richly drawn characters and his trademark blend of pastoral beauty and unflinching realism, he explores the eternal questions: What do we owe to those who love us? And can we escape the consequences of our own nature?A masterwork of Victorian literature that remains startlingly modern in its portrait of a woman forging her own destiny.