ThisstoryofaproudruralbeautyandthethreemenwhocourtheristhenovelthatfirstmadeThomasHardyfamous.
Despitetheviolentendsofseveralofitsmajorcharacters,FarfromtheMaddingCrowdisthesunniestandleastbroodingofHardy’sgreatnovels.Thestrong-mindedBathshebaEverdene—andthedevotedshepherd,obsessedfarmer,anddashingsoldierwhovieforherfavor—movethroughabeautifullyrealizedlatenineteenth-centuryagrarianlandscape,stillalmostuntouchedbytheindustrialrevolutionandtheencroachmentofmodernlife.
