{"product_id":"the-mayor-of-casterbridge","title":"The Mayor of Casterbridge","description":"\u003cp\u003e\nThis 1886 novel may be Hardy’s most intense and gripping narrative. We first see the central character, Michael Henchard, as a drunken and unemployed hay-trusser who sells his wife Susan and his daughter Elizabeth-Jane at a fair. When he is eventually reunited with the two, he has become the contented and prosperous mayor of a thriving market town. But the downward spiral begins. Henchard’s fall is hastened by a series of coincidences and quarrels, and by his own jealousy and pride. Though the perspective on events that Hardy gives us is often that of other characters (Elizabeth-Jane in particular), Henchard remains the central focus; in the end he is a tragic figure, bankrupt, emotionally broken and an outcast from society.\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\nPrepared by one of the world’s leading Hardy scholars, this edition includes a critical introduction and a range of background materials from the period. Historical documents (concerning such topics as the corn laws and the practice of wife-selling) and contemporary reviews help set this remarkable novel in the context out of which it emerged.\n\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Broadview Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":66233403179357,"sku":null,"price":21.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1041\/3893\/2573\/files\/9781551111223.jpg?v=1792202763","url":"https:\/\/shop.gazellebookservices.co.uk\/products\/the-mayor-of-casterbridge","provider":"Gazelle Book Services","version":"1.0","type":"link"}