The Mayor of Casterbridge: An 1886 Wessex Novel by Hardy (Annotated)

Book overview Annotated Edition Features: Historical ContextAn Introduction To The Literary Period of The Victorian Era A Historical Timeline of Key Events From 19th Century BritainAbout "The Mayor of Casterbridge", subtitled "The Life and Death of a Man of Character," is one of Thomas Hardy's most compelling novels, first published in 1886.The novel chronicles the life of Michael Henchard, a young hay-trusser who, in a fit of drunken anger, sells his wife Susan and their baby daughter Elizabeth-Jane to a sailor named Newson at a country fair.

When he sobers up, he's horrified by his actions and swears an oath to abstain from alcohol for 21 years.

Years later, Henchard has risen to become the Mayor of Casterbridge, a thriving agricultural town in Hardy's fictional region of Wessex.

His past, however, comes back to haunt him when Susan and Elizabeth-Jane, believing Newson to be dead, return to seek him out.

Henchard attempts to correct his past wrongs, but his life becomes increasingly complicated due to a series of misunderstandings, jealousies, and his own personal failings.