The Mayor of Casterbridge

Category Literature & Fiction
Format Paperback
Imprint Rupa
Price 150

ISBN: 978-8171674220
Pages: 320 pages
Date: 1 February 2000

ABOUT THIS BOOK

Published in 1886, the protagonist, Michael Henchard, is a haytrusser who one day gets so drunk that he auctions off his wife and child for five guineas to a sailor. When sober, he realizes his mistake and vows not to touch liquor. Over the years, his hard work pays off, he becomes rich and eventually even the mayor of Casterbridge. Eighteen years after being sold off, his wife returns, with a daughter who, she persuades Henchard to believe, is his. Meanwhile, Henchard quarrels with his assistant Farfrae who then proceeds to possess, piece by piece, everything that belonged to Henchard.

AUTHOR OF THE BOOK

Thomas Hardy was born on Egdon Heath, in Dorset, near Dorchester on June 2, 1840. Hardy succeeded on the death of his friend George Meredith to the presidency of the Society of Authors in 1909. King George V conferred on him the Order of Merit and he received in 1912 the gold medal of the Royal Society of Literature. Some of his major works include The Return Of The Native (1878),The Mayor Of Casterbridge (1886),Tess Of The D’urbervilles(1891), Jude The Obscure (1895).