From its spectacular opening—the astonishing scene in which drunken Michael Henchard sells his wife and daughter to a passing sailor at a country fair—to the breathtaking series of discoveries at its conclusion, The Mayor of Casterbridge claims a unique place among Thomas Hardy's finest and most powerful novels.
Rooted in an actual case of wife-selling in early nineteenth-century England, the story builds into an awesome Sophoclean drama of guilt and revenge, in which the strong, willful Henchard rises to a position of wealth and power—only to achieve a most bitter downfall. Proud, obsessed, ultimately committed to his own destruction, Henchard is, as Albert Guerard has said, "Hardy's Lord Jim...his only tragic hero and one of the greatest tragic heroes in all fiction."
Tragic heroes bring about their own destruction. Michael Henchard in Hardy's 1886 classic does so in spades. The novel starts with a bang: Henchard, drunk, sells his wife and baby daughter at a fair and, when sober, cannot find them. He moves to Casterbridge, where, flash-forward 18 years, he has become a successful businessman and mayor. Enter again his wife and daughter, and Henchard doesn't know quite what to do with them. Meanwhile his business is failing. Bad decisions continue, yet listeners can't help liking Henchard, despite his flaws. What adds to these feelings is the able reading by Pamela Garelick, who has a host of memorable characters firmly in her grasp. She enjoys her story, and so will her audience. T.H. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine
About the Author
Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) was born in Higher Bockhampton, Stinsford, England. He studied under an architect engaged in church restoration, then left Dorchester for London when he was twenty-two to pursue his profession. The idyllic rural life he left behind became inspiration for poetry, which publishers rejected, so he turned to the novel and found success. Several of his novels are considered masterpieces to this day. Discouraged by critics’ rejection of his later works, he returned to writing verse.
