«Far from the Madding Crowd» is a novel by 19th century English novelist Thomas Hardy, published in 1874. It is author’s fourth novel and his first major literary success. The title is apt, as the life of the book’s heroine, Bathsheba Everdene, living in the quiet rural village of Weatherbury is indeed disrupted by the «madding crowd». After shunning the first man to love her, the shepherd Gabriel Oak, she is courted by two others: the lonely and repressed farmer Boldwood, and the charming but faithless Sergeant Troy. The role of fate is clearly established, with each twist and turn in the book being more luck than the choice of one of the characters. The book is widely seen as Hardy’s first masterpiece.
The ebook «Far from the Madding Crowd» from Animedia Company contains black-and-white illustrations by Helen Paterson Allingham.