At the
Telegraph Christopher Nicholson recommended five books that illuminate the life and work of Thomas Hardy, including:
Hardy’s novels, at their best, are mythic in nature: the stories they tell, from the changing countryside of the 19th century, are both local and universal. The most dreamlike is The Woodlanders (1887) – set in a hamlet deep in the woods, it feels like a fairy tale. A poor girl cuts off her hair for money, an old man becomes terrified of a large tree, a mantrap lies in wait…
Read about
the other books Nicholson tagged.
The Page 99 Test: Thomas Hardy's The Woodlanders.
--Marshal Zeringue