Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Far from the Madding Crowd is another of Hardy’s series of novels set in Wessex; it follows Under the Greenwood Tree and precedes The Return of the Native in his novels of “character and environment.” Set in the 1840s, we meet Bathsheba Everdene, who has inherited her uncle’s farm in Weatherbury and Gabriel Oak, a farmer who has some misfortunes and loses his farm and his social status.

Bathsheba eventually finds herself with three potential suitors: Farmer Boldwood who owns the adjoining farm, Sergeant Troy whose regiment is based in the area and Gabriel. We also meet a girl, Fanny Robin, who plays an important role in the development of the story.

I can’t go much beyond that, for fear of spoilers, but I really enjoyed reading this book again after many years. One of the things that I found interesting, is how the landscape with the natural cycle of the seasons is present in the novel; almost as if the landscape is an additional character.