The Mayor of Casterbridge

The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy (1886)

Michael Henchard, a hay-trusser, gets drunk at a country fair and sells his wife and baby daughter to a sailor. Years later, now a prosperous mayor, his past returns to destroy everything he has built.

Historical Significance:
Hardy's subtitle — "The Life and Death of a Man of Character" — signals this is a classical tragedy transplanted to Victorian Dorset. Published in 1886, the novel explores how one terrible act committed in youth can haunt an entire life. Henchard is one of literature's greatest flawed protagonists — violent, proud, generous, and self-destructive. Hardy, who trained as an architect, constructed the plot with architectural precision, every element building toward inevitable catastrophe.

This public domain classic was originally published in 1886. Free to read and share.