This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1902 edition. Excerpt: ...rendered him less desirable as a husband than she had at first thought him to be.' 'I cannot answer, ' said Elizabeth-Jane thoughtfully. 'It is so difficult. It wants a Pope to settle that!' 'You prefer not to, perhaps?' Lucetta showed in her appealing tone how much she leant on Elizabeth's judgment. 'Yes, ...
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This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1902 edition. Excerpt: ...rendered him less desirable as a husband than she had at first thought him to be.' 'I cannot answer, ' said Elizabeth-Jane thoughtfully. 'It is so difficult. It wants a Pope to settle that!' 'You prefer not to, perhaps?' Lucetta showed in her appealing tone how much she leant on Elizabeth's judgment. 'Yes, Miss Templeman, ' admitted Elizabeth. 'I would rather not say.' Nevertheless, Lucetta seemed relieved by the simple fact of having opened out the situation a little, and was slowly convalescent of her headache. 'Bring me a looking-glass. How do I appear to people?' she said languidly. 'Well--a little worn, ' answered Elizabeth, eyeing her as a critic eyes a doubtful painting; fetching the glass she enabled Lucetta to survey herself in it, which Lucetta anxiously did. 'I wonder if I wear well, as times go!' she observed after a while. 'Yes--fairly. 'Where am I worst?' 'Under your eyes--I notice a little brownness there.' 'Yes. That is my worst place, I know. How many years more do you think I shall last before I get hopelessly plain?' There was something curious in the way in which Elizabeth, though the younger, had come to play the part of experienced sage in these discussions. 'It may be five years, ' she said judicially. 'Or, with a quiet life, as many as ten. With no love you might calculate on ten.' Lucetta seemed to reflect on this as on an unalterable, impartial verdict. She told Elizabeth-Jane no more of the past attachment she had roughly adumbrated as the experiences of a third person; and Elizabeth, who in spite of her philosophy was very tender-hearted, wept that night in bed at the thought that her pretty, rich Lucetta did not treat her to the full confidence of names and dates in her confessions. For by the 'she' of Lucetta's story...
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Add this copy of The Mayor of Casterbridge to cart. $34.16, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2018 by Simon & Brown.
?The Mayor of Casterbridge? was Hardy?s tenth published novel and, as most critics say, his first masterpiece. Set in and around Casterbridge (Hardy?s name for Dorchester) the story of Michael Henchard is one of the most tragic that Hardy ever wrote. The novel follows the story of Michael Henchard, a hay trusser, who under the influence of alcohol sells his wife Susan and their daughter Elizabeth ?Jane to a sailor named Newson, for five guineas. Several years later, following the death of Newson, Susan arrives at Casterbridge with Elizabeth-Jane to seek her legal husband. Not knowing what to expect, Susan is astonished to find that Henchard is now the mayor of Casterbridge, and a very respectable person. After the sell of his wife and daughter Henchard took a twenty-one year vow not to drink. Thinking that he has been given a second chance to make things right, Henchard remarries Susan and because Elizabeth ?Jane believes that Newson is her father, Henchard adopts her as his own daughter. But the errors of his past cannot be so easily repaired and as no man can avoid his destiny, Henchard is forced to pay his dues although the price may seem too high. What many people don?t know is that Hardy was actually an architect and his novels apart from being amazing psychological analyses of the nineteenth century society, they also give us extremely valuable information regarding the way things looked back then. Another thing that you should keep in mind when reading this book is that it is actually inspired from reality. There are records that state that back in the sixteen hundreds, a man actually sold his wife at the fair in Stockport (a small town near Manchester) and although we do not know what happened after that, Hardy sure did a great job at filling the blanks!
