{"product_id":"far-from-the-madding-crowd-9780141439655","title":"Far from the Madding Crowd","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe classic novel of passion and courtship in rural England\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn Thomas Hardy's first major literary success, independent and spirited Bathsheba Everdene has come to Weatherbury to take up her position as a farmer on the largest estate in the area. Her bold presence draws three very different suitors: the gentleman-farmer Boldwood, the soldier-seducer Sergeant Troy, and the devoted shepherd Gabriel Oak. Each, in contrasting ways, unsettles her decisions and complicates her life, and tragedy ensues, threatening the stability of the whole community. One of his first works set in the semi-fictional region of Wessex, Hardy's novel of swift passion and slow courtship is imbued with his evocative descriptions of rural life and landscapes, and with unflinching honesty about sexual relationships. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThis edition, based on Hardy's original 1874 manuscript, is the complete novel he never saw published, and restores its full candor and innovation. Rosemarie Morgan's introduction discusses the history of its publication, as well as the biblical and classical allusions that permeate the novel. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003ePenguin Classics is the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world, representing a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThomas Hardy\u003c\/b\u003e (1840-1928), whose writing immortalized the semi-fictional Wessex countryside and dramatized his sense of the inevitable tragedy of life, wrote fifteen novels, including \u003ci\u003eThe Return of the Native\u003c\/i\u003e (1878), \u003ci\u003eThe Mayor of Casterbridge\u003c\/i\u003e (1886), \u003ci\u003eTess of the d'Urbervilles\u003c\/i\u003e (1891), and \u003ci\u003eJude the Obscure\u003c\/i\u003e (1895). He is also renowned as one of the greatest poets of his era. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cb\u003eRosemarie Morgan \u003c\/b\u003eis a professor of English at Yale. Her many works on Thomas Hardy include \u003ci\u003eWomen and Sexuality in the Novels of Thomas Hardy \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eCancelled Words: Rediscovering Thomas Hardy\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cb\u003eShannon Russell \u003c\/b\u003eis an assistant professor of English at John Cabot University in Rome.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Penguin Classics","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50601151987986,"sku":"9780141439655","price":7.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_410d9077-0181-47c6-82fe-9c83592d046d.jpg?v=1775631914","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/far-from-the-madding-crowd-9780141439655","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}