What to read: Thomas Hardy’s 5 best books

Hardy’s books are always filled with fatalism, doom, social struggle and fateful accidents – these are often the driving force behind his works. We share a selection of five excellent books by the author that are really worth reading.

“Away from the madding crowd.”

The story of an independent farm owner whose attention is sought by three people: a rich gentleman, a carefree sergeant and a prudent farmer. Not an easy problem of choice, intrigue and the eternal drama of male-female relationships. In literary circles, this novel is still considered scandalous.

“Tess of the d’Urbervilles.”

The novel, which has inspired Hollywood movie directors many times, tells the sad story of a beautiful girl Tess. Injustice and protest, love and murder are subtly and poignantly intertwined in the fate of the protagonist.

“In the Edge of the Woods.”

An educated middle-class girl should marry a man of her own class – her father is sure of it. The indifferent parent forces his daughter to break off her relationship with the ignorant but honest and kind forest ranger Giles and literally pushes her to marry a man she does not love. A work about moral choices, mistakes, forgiveness and the path to repentance.

“Mayor of Casterbridge”

As a young man, Michael Henchard committed a terrible thing – he sold his wife and daughter. To atone for this sin, he decided to quit drinking for 21 years and kept his word. From a man who lost everything, Henchard turned into a successful wholesale grain merchant and became mayor of the town of Kesterbridge. After many years, the protagonist reunited with his wife Susan and daughter. But fatal mistakes of the past haunt the family and do not allow them to find happiness.

“Jude the Unremarkable.”

Thomas Hardy’s latest novel is the story of a gifted young man from a backwoods provincial town, suffocating within the confines of being a “little man”. Young Jude, a bricklayer who dreams of becoming a scientist. But his plans are not destined to come true. Jude marries a girl who has long sought him, but this marriage soon breaks up, and the hero falls in love with his cousin. A terrible tragedy invades the lives of the heroes, which destroys their family and relationships to the ground.