Under the Greenwood Tree

When the new schoolmistress, Fancy Day, arrives and promptly captivates every man in the parish, the village's band of folk musicians finds itself contending with two threats at once: the vicar's plan to replace them with a modern organ, and the distraction of watching Dick Dewy fall helplessly in love.

Under the Greenwood Tree (1872) is Hardy's first major novel and his most quietly contented one. Organised by the...