'Far From the Madding Crowd' by Thomas Hardy

Genre: Romance Novel

Why look at a new author when you can revisit an old one! With the anniversary of Thomas Hardy’s death having just passed us, I could not miss the opportunity to talk about the work of one of my favourite authors for a second time.

Whereas last time I looked into Hardy’s ‘Jude the Obscure’, now I want to look into one of his most famous novels, ‘Far From the Madding Crowd’. Some of you may have seen the film before reading the book, or the other way around, or maybe you have read and seen neither! ‘Far From the Madding Crowd’ is a tale of romantic encounters, some reciprocated, but mostly unrequited feelings, betrayals, lust, revenge, but also plain and simple love. All of this is set in Hardy’s favourite setting, Wessex, and of course centres around a farm.

Although this romantic novel has a few love interests, the main protagonists include Gabriel Oak, a shepherd, and Bathsheba, who has inherited her late uncle’s farm. Like most female protagonists, Bathsheba is beautiful but is also head-strong which allows her to gain the respect of the farm-workers. The plot is your typical harem, multiple potential suitors, including Gabriel, try to win Bathsheba’s hand in marriage - some succeed, some do not - but I won’t spoil anything!

Hardy has a way for dramaticism that I love, he knows exactly what plot devices and narrative structures to use to create a bleak and dark twist in the plot that catches you by surprise. He also leaves you constantly wondering who will Bathsheba pick, it is never a certainty as Bathsheba is such an unpredictable and fiery character, but I think that is what also makes her more relatable to a modern reader.

If you like a romance novel that is unpredictable, naturalistic, and overall a little bit chaotic I would highly recommend this book. Is it a little bit tedious at times with the long descriptions and the overall length of the novel - yes - but I have a short attention span for those types of details. So if you’re willing to look past the length of ‘Far From the Madding Crowd’, it is a fantastic read.

Rating: * * * *