Thomas Hardy
Regarded as a towering figure in nineteenth-century British literature, Thomas Hardy ranks among the most acclaimed of the Victorian realists. Though he achieved more popular success for works such as Far From the Madding Crowd and Tess of the d'Urbervilles, most critics now see The Mayor of Casterbridge as Harding's crowning accomplishment. This novel traces the ascension of Michael Henchard from a hardscrabble manual laborer
...Dip a toe into the literary oeuvre of British novelist and poet Thomas Hardy in this well-curated collection of some of his best short stories. Hardy was famed for his ability to create characters who struggle mightily against social mores and circumstances beyond their control, and this strength shines in the finely drawn characters who populate these tales.
Known for such novels as Tess of the d'Urbervilles and Far from the Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy delves deeper into the genre of historical romance in this stirring portrait of the various entanglements and amorous intrigues that arise among a group of church musicians in rural England. Hearts are broken along the way, and though the novel ends with a wedding, did the right pair find each other in time? Under the Greenwood Tree
...One of the most popular of Hardy's novels, this charming pastoral idyll is a lightly humorous depiction of life in an early Victorian rural community. Drawn from Hardy's childhood memories, it represents, he said, "a true picture at first hand of the personages, ways, and customs which were common in the villages."
The story delicately balances the concerns of the Mellstock parish choir with a romance between Dick Dewy, a member of the choir,
...A great collection of short stories based on the theme of love read by Martin Jarvis and Rosalind Ayres.
These are not archetypal love stories full of sentimentality, but the clever, poignant, humorous and even romantic stories set in an age of chivalry and honour. There are aspects of humour and respect in Mr. & Mrs. Dove, love from afar in the poignant tale, Angela, and a woman clouded in mystery in The Sphinx...