Three Great Novels: Tess of the D’Urbervilles, Far from the Madding Crowd, The Mayor of Casterbridge

Against the backdrop of peaceful south-west England, complex characters make choices which often lead to tragic results.Spirited Bathsheba in Far From The Madding Crowd must choose between three suitors; her choice provokes disaster, Henchard–the mayor of Casterbridge–loses everything through an act of selfishness and cruelty, yet he commands sympathy as much as condemnation.