The Mayor of Casterbridge: The Life and Trials of Michael Henchard

"The Mayor of Casterbridge" by Thomas Hardy is a poignant exploration of fate, character, and redemption. The novel opens with Michael Henchard, a hay-trusser, who, in a moment of drunken folly, sells his wife, Susan, and their daughter, Elizabeth-Jane, to a sailor named Newson at a country fair. Overcome with remorse, Henchard vows to abstain from alcohol for twenty-one years. Years later, Susan, believing Newson to be dead, returns to Casterbridge with Elizabeth-Jane to find Henchard, who...