The Mayor of Casterbridge (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) FROM OUR EDITORS
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FROM THE PUBLISHER
Thomas Hardyᄑs first masterpiece, The Mayor of
Casterbridge opens with a scene of such heartlessness and cruelty that it
still shocks readers today. A poor workman named Michael Henchard, in a fit of
drunken rage, sells his wife and baby daughter to a stranger at a country
fair. Stricken with remorse, Henchard forswears alcohol and works hard to
become a prosperous businessman and the respected mayor of Casterbridge. But
he cannot erase his past. His wife ultimately returns to offer Henchard the
choice of redemption or a further descent into his own self-destructive
nature. A dark, complex story, The Mayor of Casterbridge brims with
invention, vitality, and even wit.
Phillip Lopate, a professor at Hofstra University in New York City, is
best known as an essayist (ᄑBachelorhood,ᄑ ᄑAgainst Joie De Vivre,ᄑ ᄑPortrait
of My Bodyᄑ). He is the editor of the anthology Art of the Personal Essay
and has written a novel, The Rug Merchant, and a book of poetry, The
Daily Round.