This novel reminds a bit of Damascus by Richard Beard since they both tell the events of a single day with some play between real time and imagined time. But unlike Beard's novel which rockets back and forth between past and present reimagined and possible meetings between two specific characters, Mallon uses multiple characters who eventually all cross paths in one climactic moment as Scott Carpenter is being rescued from the ocean after his successful orbit of the Earth in Aurora 7. There are interesting and bizarre historical coincidences peppered throughout the novel like the Civil War reconnaissance balloon Intrepid that flew in May 1862, 100 years before a Navy ship similarly named that recovered Carpenter. I mostly enjoyed how Mallon used the actual transcript of Carpenter's communication with NASA technicians as a framework for the storyline the takes place on Earth. This novel is thoroughly imaginative and filled with a love of humanity, the need for adventure and, most importantly, a respect for the bonds between parent and child. I read this to see if I would truly like Mallon after reading reviews of Two Moons. Now I'm set for his latest and I expect it to be just as good, if not better.

What a great book! Aurora 7 follows a young boy as he skips school on the day of Scott Carpenter's Mercury flight, wanders into New York City (where everyone is watching the flight on a giant Grand Central Station monitor), and has a fateful, miraculous meeting with his dad. Somehow, Carpenter's almost getting lost in space (he nearly didn't make it down) and the boy's fate get intertwinned. A soulful, gentle book.

Jude wants to get ahead in the world. Starting at a young age he studies the Classics; learns Latin and Greek, and opens his mind wide to knowledge in general. He is preparing himself for Oxford, but Oxford won't have him, nor undoubtedly will any other university. You see he is poor, and poor people aren't admitted to college in Victorian times.

After exiting a short-lived dismal marriage Jude then meets and falls in love with his cousin who ultimately leaves her husband and moves in with him. There is no "happily ever after" in this novel. Sue, his lover, has sexual problems that need the ministrations of Dr. Ruth, who unfortunately was not available at the time. Sex is repellent to her, and so she and Jude live fairly platonic lives; lives that are not made easier by society's negative reaction to their living in "sin".

Jude and Sue are nice, if not psychologically whole, individuals. You wish them well, but Thomas Hardy has decided to sacrifice them to his philosophical views. He burdens the poor couple with society's repressive attitudes toward women, the lower classes, and marital nonconformity. A novel that begins with the hope of springtime, ends in a winter of despair.

It is a pessimistic, depressing story that examines Victorian sexual and societal mores, and for this it was condemned by many critics. Hardy was so affected by this criticism that he never wrote another novel. Instead he successfully turned to poetry, although his pessimism was again apparent in some of his verses (Read for instance his elegant poem "God's Funeral"). Some of the novel is a bit melodramatic, but that is a common trait of many works of the period. My credulity is strained somewhat by the basically non-sexual relationship of Jude and Sue. Sue is described as an attractive, intelligent and even flirtatious woman. Put simply, I could not fall in love with such a lady, and live with her as brother and sister.

I enjoy many Victorian novels because they combine outstanding literature with an exposition of the society of the times. Hardy is one of England's best. Highly recommended, and I strongly suggest that you buy the Norton Critical Edition of this work. In addition to the novel text you are provided with interesting information about the author, and a collection of contemporary and current reviews of the novel.

For an author who considered his poetry to be greater than his prose, Thomas Hardy clearly demonstrates his unswerving ability to create a masterpiece. Characters from the ambitious Jude to the spineless Sue paint a poignant picture of 19th century Victorian society. For those who collect banned books, a must have. This critical example of Victorian England is a great thesis to expand one's ideas on. Overall, a magnificent book.

Thomas E. Dewey, the epitome of Manhattan Avenue politics to conservative Republicans, was himself born and bred further west than the venerable Robert Taft himself. A product of Owosso, Michigan, Dewey attended the University of Michigan, studying literature and law, all the while pursuing a career as a professional singer. It was music that brought him to New York, one of many surprises unveiled in Richard Norton Smith's biography of one of America's most prolific political campaigners.

Dewey was a capable enough performer that in 1924 he was booked for a solo performance in the cultural heart of America. In the audience was the noted music critic Deems Taylor. Taylor commented upon what he perceived as Dewey's contrived emotional stage effects, but this flaw was dwarfed by a more essential one: suffering from laryngitis, Dewey's voice totally shut down halfway through the program. A thoroughly mortified Dewey was forced to take stock of his career, and as a second choice he decided to pursue a law degree. Columbia University of the 1920's enjoyed a plethora of great legal minds, and even the frustrated singer came to develop a passion for law and the potential theatrics of the courtroom.

Dewey's rapid ascent through the law profession was abetted by two factors: his labors on behalf of New York City's struggling Republican party, and the patronage of George Z. Medalie, who would become Dewey's legal and political rabbi. Medalie, a major character in this treatment, enjoyed a thriving private law practice, but he was drafted for one of the city's frequent, and usually unsuccessful, forays against organized crime, which literally held New York in a stranglehold in the 1920's and 1930's. Medalie, who had once consulted for Dewey's firm, brought this "prodigy" into his investigations of the seamy criminal underbelly of New York including, as it turned out, the disappearance of Judge Crater.

Not even Medalie could have imagined what kind of courtroom tiger he had unleashed. It was to Dewey's advantage that few intrepid souls wanted to tackle the dangers of addressing organized crime, particularly when corruption pervaded the police department and the courts. Dewey became New York City's district attorney in 1935, prosecuting famous gangsters, politicians, and public figures with a take no prisoners approach. Smith describes several of the most famous investigations in considerable detail, but it is Dewey's style that is most intriguing: a workaholic perfectionist whose "when in Rome" style and prosecutorial armtwisting were not for the prudish. Dewey's face became one of the most recognizable in America-through newspapers, newsreels, and a series of Hollywood B-movies in which Dewey lookalike actors reenacted the more famous of his investigations.

After the substantive defeats of Hoover in 1932 and Landon in 1936 many Republican voters in the 1940 primaries turned to the fresh aggressive look of Dewey. By May 1 Dewey stood at the head of the pack, but May 1940 proved to be his undoing. Smith observes that it was not a Republican challenger who derailed Dewey's victory train, but Hitler himself. After the disaster of Dunkirk, Dewey became "the first American casualty of the Second World War," as one wag put it at the time. As the war came visibly closer to American life, Dewey's youth and limited international experience became glaring obstacles to his White House hopes. Defeated for the nomination by Wendell Wilkie, Dewey captured the New York state house in 1942. A genuinely compassionate man, Dewey's lengthy tenure as governor was marked by fiscal conservatism and social reform. His vision was remarkable: he predicted the postwar housing shortage and developed a state surplus for postwar needs. He saw the fiscal possibilities of a better highway system and sowed the seeds for what would become the interstate highway system by his advocacy of the New York State Thruway, which now bears his name.

Had Dewey's ambition been quenched in Albany, he would probably be remembered as one of the most effective state leaders of the century. Regrettably for his posterity, it is his unsuccessful runs for the presidency in 1944 and particularly 1948, when he "snatched defeat from the jaws of victory," that most Americans associate with Dewey. Smith does not psychoanalyze the 1948 event, as many historians do, nor does he demonize Truman, whom he credits with conducting a masterful if brutal campaign. Smith concedes that Dewey's 1948 campaign was too ethereal, but in the final analysis Dewey was a victim of himself. Like Nixon, he was not a natural gladhander, and his perfectionism in crafting his speeches not only resulted in a wooden product but devoured time better spent in personal appearances.

Smith describes Dewey's personal life as that of, well, a rich suburban Republican. Early in his career Dewey made the acquaintance of journalist Lowell Thomas, who gradually drew him into the social circle of Quaker Hill, an exclusive mountain community near Pawling, New York, north of the city. Dewey remained a presence in Republican circles until his sudden death by heart attack in 1971. He labored to keep his party moderate, campaigning vigorously for Eisenhower and against the Taft wing. Smith brings to light several interesting anecdotes of Dewey's later years. In 1970 a coterie of leading congressional Republicans, deeply concerned about the style and direction of the Nixon White House [read Haldeman and Ehrlichman], nominated their former party leader to speak privately with the president. Dewey apparently agreed to approach Nixon, but his sudden death intervened. Smith also records that the widowed Dewey courted Kitty Carlisle Hart [then a panelist on the popular TV program "To Tell The Truth"] and asked her to marry him. [The question was still under negotiation at the time of his death.] On the last day of his life, in Miami, he played golf with Carl Yastrzemski. His final regrets, it appears, had less to do with presidential campaigns and more to do with his belief that he had worked too hard and played too little.

Thomas E. Dewey, unfortunately, is probably best remembered by most Americans as the little fellow who lost the 1948 Presidential election to Harry S. Truman in one of the greatest upsets in American history. But thanks to the work of Richard Norton Smith, we can now see Dewey for what he really was - a crusading, crime-busting district attorney; perhaps the best governor New York State ever had; and the man who "modernized" the Republican Party and allowed it to survive through the Depression years and the 1940's. Dewey came from a small town in Michigan, and his rise to fame and fortune came remarkably fast. A compulsive workaholic and "neat freak", Dewey graduated from the University of Michigan and Columbia University Law School in the 1920's. He briefly considered a career as a singer - he had an award-winning baritone voice and liked to sing Broadway tunes in his bathtub - but decided that the law would be a more stable and suitable career. He married an actress, settled in New York City (although he never really liked New York, and bought a large farm 70 miles north of Manhattan in the late thirties and happily became a weekend farmer). In 1933 Dewey, only 29, became the assistant DA and helped to send several gangsters to prison. In 1935 he was elected District Attorney for New York City, and he soon achieved national fame as the "gangbuster" - the honest lawyer who sent dozens of famous mafia leaders to jail. His most famous target was "Lucky" Luciano, the mafia boss of all New York and who was even more powerful than Al Capone. Dewey's conviction of Luciano made him a national hero and propelled him into presidential politics at the incredible age of 38. Hollywood even made movies about him. In 1940 he ran for the Republican presidential nomination and nearly won, despite his youth and inexperience. In 1942 he was elected governor of New York. During his twelve years as governor he passed the first state civil rights laws in America, lowered taxes AND cut a budget deficit in half, and founded the State University of New York. He also rooted out political crooks and ran a remarkably honest administration. In 1944 he ran for President and came closer to defeating Franklin D. Roosevelt than any of his four opponents. Dewey's great moment was supposed to have been in 1948, when he was considered to be a sure bet to defeat President Harry S. Truman and restore the Republicans to the White House. All the polls showed Dewey winning easily, and Dewey refused to even mention Truman's name - even as Truman insulted and ridiculed him in speech after speech. This was a costly mistake - Truman won a narrow victory in one of the great political upsets of all time. At the age of 46, Dewey was a "has-been". Smith does a wonderful job of explaining why, despite Dewey's honesty, intelligence, and obvious leadership skills he was never able to win the White House. Partly this was due to Dewey's personality - many people felt him to be cold and calculating, a short man with a bad temper and an arrogant attitude towards others. Smith fills this biography with plenty of delicious quotes (Dewey's secretary - "He was as cold as a February icicle"), and he also offers a superb history of the Republican Party in its lean years between the 1920's and the Eisenhower Fifties. Although Dewey will probably always be remembered more for his 1948 upset than for his substantial achievements, Smith's biography will at least ensure that those who read this book will come away with a much better appreciation for the man and for what he accomplished. A terrific book!

A question about the source of human tragedy lies at the heart of The Mayor of Casterbridge. Characters frequently mention fate and providence as causes for tragedy (and joy), but Hardy offers more subtle and complex explanations for individual tragedy. At times, Hardy seems to indicate that circumstance and timing play a more important role than Providence in shaping the course of human destiny. Can people survive without the aid of luck or providence by pure force of will? Henchard (the Mayor) is a man whose loneliness, egoism, and pride cause him to make bad decisions. His faulty judgement certainly do not help him in his quest for fulfillment, either. Hardy's depiction of an ultimately unknowable universe is achieved partly through his characters' false assignment of meaning to meaningless incidents. Fate, human will, and faulty perceptions are central issues in much of Hardy's writing. Though not as moving and intense as Hardy's masterpiece Tess of the d'Urbervilles, The Mayor is not to be missed. Hardy's complex rendering of Henchard's multi-faceted personality is remarkable. In addition, The Norton Critical Addition provides excellent commentary and background information from noteworthy critics.

Do I really need to say how important Eliot is? Simply put, this is the dividing line. Poetry has never been the same since. Beyond that, the Norton Critical edition does an excellent job assisting us by providing the reader with many of the sources this excellent poem was based on, as well as many responses to this poem in one neat and nifty book! Plus the poem is thrown in just for kicks. Buy the book! Love the book!

Literature scholars universally recognize Eliot's "Waste Land" as one of the most influential poems of the 20th century. The poem draws on a wealth of images, everything from classics of Western literature to Tarot cards, from anthropology to Eastern sacred texts. The title refers to the barren land of the Fisher King in Arthurian legend; both the king and the land eventually find redemption through the Holy Grail. Through a masterful use of language and symbols, Eliot brilliantly portrays the problem of meaning in the modern world --- and the way to deeper meaning!

Unfortunately, many of Eliot's references are arcane, and not easy for the lay reader to pursue. For example, few modern readers happen to have a copy of Webster's play "White Devil" or excerpts from Shackleton's account of the Antarctic expedition readily available on their shelves. Hence, the virtue of this particular edition: in addition to Eliot's original poem and original notes, this book includes the relevant passages from every single work Eliot quotes in the "Wasteland", all translated into English. For the first time I have seen in print, this book allows the reader to understand this magnificent poem in light of the full scope of its allusions. A triumphant achievement!

Simply put, THE WASTE LAND is one of the strangest, most complicated, and interesting poems ever written. Try reading an unannotated version of the poem and you will see why even TS Eliot scholars need a little help with some of the images and literary references Eliot uses. This NORTON CRITICAL EDITION of THE WASTE LAND is an essential book for any Eliot fan, new or old. It provides you with practically every single piece of literature, history, and music that inspired Eliot to write his manifesto of the Lost Generation. If you have any questions concerning THE WASTE LAND, this is the book you need...this is the book you want. Buy it and realize how well-read you are not.

I was reading this book for an assignment in English, and the images that it left in my mind will remain there for a long time. The story of Tess, a truly Pure woman, facing adversities that scare the soul out of me, is a thoughtful and saddening one.

The Norton Critical edition is particularily good, containing reviews and poems of and about Thomas Hardy, a major advantage when trying to understand the atmosphere that produced this novel.

Though the novel is heavy in description, the description is not out of place. In fact, it is essential to the storyline.

All in all, I enjoyed this book, and it made me think and reflect on the values that I believe are truly important.

Morality is subject to some rolling blackouts in this book. At the end, the law stepped in and made sure that the destruction was mutual. Law seems to be particularly inept in situations where a book is this hard on the reader, and those critics in the Norton Critical Edition who consider this novel almost a crime against literature have a point. If all the characters were being put on trial, instead of merely trying to live, the law would allow each of them to be tried separately because of the doctrine of mutually antagonistic defenses. There were parts of this book I enjoyed: Angel Clare sorting the cows for milking made a lovely theme. Hardy kept referring to the barnyard as a "barton," but I'm sure he wasn't directing that jibe at me, personally, because this book was written long before I was born. I've been to barnyards that were as full of "mulch" as the "barton" described in this book, and Hardy is putting things mildly. I liked the part when Alec had been reformed and Tess discovered him preaching to the Methodists without thinking that he was any better for all the things he was trying to say. Somehow Alec getting on the other side of things was still Alec, and he would have preferred to be happy than to preach all the time. For me, the plot revolved around Angel Clare's need to find a place where he could get money without shame. Alec had as much money as Tess would ever need, and he wanted to give it to her in his own way. There is an early baby problem that Tess didn't tell Alec about until they had more problems than any novelist could make disappear. D. H. Lawrence tried to understand this book in unfulfilled male and female principles, and aristocratic principles which isolated Tess and Alec d'Uberville. I'm glad this book has been appreciated so long that I finally read it. It was an involvement that went further than just feeling like a barnyard.

Thomas Hardy's novel makes a heroine out of a simple girl. Tess Durbeyfield, the daughter of a nearly extinct noble line, leads a life of heavy responsibility where her impoverished family is concerned. At the behest of her parents, she seeks assistance from the D'Urbervilles who are, supposedly, relatives. This assistance yields disastrous results and Tess feels compelled to find work as a milkmaid where she meets Angel Clare, the son of an evangelical pastor, who is gathering experience in order to become a farmer.

Hardy does a splendid job of illustrating Tess's strength as she goes from innocent girl to pure woman. Though she is not as educated as Angel, in terms of theory, her experience with Alec Stokes D'Urberville has given her a deeper knowledge of life and acceptance. Ironically, it is this experience which captivates and, predictably enough, repulses Angel.

Hardy's narrative is a powerful one in this particular tale. It is clear that this is Tess's story and we, as readers, witness her painful journey. Through his subtle and understated use of irony, we come to realize the hypocrisy of Angel and wonder about the diabolical nature of Alec.

What Hardy does emphasize in this novel is the unwavering hand of Justice which allows the novel to come to a bittersweet end and lets no one escape its strong, yet objective, sense of judgement.

If you have read The Essential Drucker, Balanced scorecard etc. , the book essentially has the same information repeated under a different title. Recommend Essential Drucker, Balanced Score card which is more comprehensive than this title.

This collection of eight articles from the HBR is a must IF AND ONLY IF you want the only highlights of some of the new management tools and theories out there. If you've ever wondered what Activity-Based Costing (ABC) is or what Kaplan's "Balanced Scorecard" is all about, this may be just the introductory text for you. I mention these two tools first since 2 out of 8 articles deal with ABC, either in whole or in part, while another 3 deal specifically with the balanced scorecard. So, if you've got ABC and the balanced scorecard already firmly laid out in your head, this may be a bit redundant.

The remaining three articles are still worth a quick read though. I found in one article, "How the Right Measures Help Teams Excel," ideas that I hadn't seen anywhere else (for example, the team "dashboard"). And, the "How High is Your Return on Management?" article might give managers a moment of reflection on whether or not they have a good ROM and what they can do to improve it.

As I stated before, much of this is merely highlights though. Do not expect to be able to use this book as a primary source to implement any of the measures. It's a tease that gets you excited (at least it did me), but doesn't provide much of a game plan for bringing it all about.

Still, if what you want is a quick overview and a few case studies where these principles and tools have been applied, by all means, read this. It's worth at least that much.

Looking for some informative, original and clear thinking about measuring performance? This book is a great choice! This is a collection of eight outstanding articles selected from past editions of the HBR. The articles cover such subjects as activity-based costing, the use of nonfinancial criteria, and tools executives require to generate the information needed. Each article begins with an executive summary which, for the fast-forward crowd, is a big plus.

So many books are merely ONE GOOD ARTICLE embedded in a thicket of verbiage. Chopping away through such a jungle of verbosity for the gist-of-it-all often proves tedious and disappointing. (Blessed are the laconic!) This book, on the other hand, just serves up a bunch of 'gists' -the pure meat and potatoes of ideas. Happily, the HBSP has published several other collections of this sort on such topics as knowledge management, change, and strategies for growth. Each of these is collection of first-rate 'gists'. Reviewed by Gerry Stern, founder, Stern & Associates, author of Stern's Sourcefinder The Master Directory to HR and Business Management Information & Resources, Stern's CyberSpace SourceFinder, and the Compensation and Benefits SourceFinder.

We use this as the main text in my US History AP course. It's a good, fairly comprehensive, yet easy to read text.

I used this textbook as a junior in high school and recently purchased a later edition. Although the wonderful charts plotting the states and electoral numbers of the Presidential elections are long gone it is still a great reference book on our nations history.

My students really enjoyed this textbook because it was so inclusive of all American heritages. It is up-to-date with current trends in American history and has a little bit of everything your students might be interested in.

Both Volumes 1 and 2 of Penguins Le Morte D'Arthur were filled with an endless fountain of legends and reading these books one knows why it provided inspiration for writers throughout the centuries. The sub plots alone (ex: King Mark and Sir Tristam's love for Isoud and Sir Palomides internal and external battles) provide the aspiring writer with a wealth of plots and ideas. But for the love of God Penguin could have included some clear annotation throughout the book. The footnotes are in dire need of a major overhaul. All Penguin gives us is a few pages of translation for the more obscure words, but the reader has to go back and forth between the story and the dictionary. To put it simply it's an enourmous pain to do this. A system of annotation similar to Signet's publishing of Paradise Lost & Regained (which is also an excellent copy of this classic which I highly recommend) would have put this set of books up to five stars. Once you get past the obscure English the book becomes surprisingly easy to read, far easier than Shakespeare or Chaucer. Malory, obviously, was not a writer like Chaucer but he did do us a favor and put the bulk of the French legends into a handy volume so we wouldn't have to search through obscure Old French romances. So think of this more as an anthology rather than a novel. For those of you struggling through the text, as I did, you can skip to almost any part of the book (except the very first and very last part) and the story you will read will make sense (this is of course assuming you understand the obscure English).

I don't read a lot. In fact, the only time I do read is when I am required to do so by a class. Such is the case with The Tales of King Arthur. But although I would never have read the book were it not for my fascinating English teacher, I must say that I have never read anything as intriguing as the Tales of King Arthur.

Getting used to the language isn't as difficult as some other reviewers are saying... At least it wasn't for me (and I'm an eighteen year-old high school student). You'll struggle through the first few pages but once you've got an ear for it the language comes natural (somewhat like reading Shakespeare - it takes time to adjust). I found nothing tedious about the book other than the somewhat unfocussed book of the Sangrail.

The characters are awesome, the language is awesome, the plots and emotions are awesome. If you read this from beginning to end you'll walk away with a sincere compassion for the characters and the inevitable death of the times.

I can't imagine bothering with a modernized version - the classic text is just so sweet.

Most everyone has some knowledge of the King Arthur legend. Either they've read it, been exposed to it by Disney or Robert Goulet, or have just heard of it from someone else that knows. So, I'm not recommending this book so much for the text.

The reason why this edition of Le Morte D'Arthur is an absolutely necessary part of any collection is for its stunning illustrations. Anna-Marie Ferguson must have dreamed of Camelot when she was a child for there is simply no other way to explain the attention to detail, the romantic cast to all that we see. As real as Arthur and Lancelot may have seemed to us before, they become infinitely more human in the hands of Ferguson. I never tire of walking to my shelves and pulling out this book to just flip through it. To track my fingertips down the smooth sweep of colors and the beautiful images that really bring Camelot to life.

Though I have never read Thomas Hardy before, I shall again very soon. I greatly enjoyed Far From the Madding Crowd. I kept associating Bathsheba, the heroine, with Scarlett O'Hara. They are both women from the past who are struggling for a place where only men typically tread. Unlike Scarlett, Bathsheba's emotions are more restrained. She's so young, but matures through the book. The reader yearns for the day she finally matures to the point that realizes she needs a partner in life, and her perfect partner is Gabriel Oak, her steadfast mate of fate.

I definitely recommend this book for one of those cold rainy weekends curled up on the couch.

I am looking forward to diving into my next Thomas Hardy novel, Jude the Obscure.

I've always condidered myself to be sort of an optimist; so it is really odd that I've always really loved Thomas Hardy's books. I count Tess of the D'Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure among my very favorites, and whether or not it is my favorite, I think that The Mayor of Casterbridge is marvelously written. Still though, reading all of that fatalism and cynicism can be a little much. It was really nice to pick up this novel and not read so many grim scenes.

Far From the Madding Crowd is a pretty simple love story driven by the characters. First, there is Bathsheba Everdeen. She's vain, naive, and she makes the stupidest decisions possible. Yet, you still like her. Then there are the three guys who all want her: Troy who's like the bad guy straight out of a Raphael Sabatini novel, Boldwood who's an old lunatic farmer, and Gabriel Oak who is a simple farmer and is basically perfect. The reader sees what should happen in the first chapter, and it takes Bathsheeba the whole book to see it. The characters really make the book. The reader really has strong feelings about them, and Hardy puts them in situations where you just don't know what they're going to do. The atmosphere that Hardy creates is (as is in all of Hardy's novel) amazing and totally original. I don't think any other author (except Wallace Stegner in America) has ever evoked a sense of place as well as Hardy does. Overall, Far from the Madding Crowd is a great novel. I probably don't like it quite as well as some of his others, but I still do think it deserved five stars.

This book was a required read for Academic Decathalon but I was handed the cliff notes and told to study them if I didn't have time to read the book. I dislike cliff notes unless I have already read a book and I need to review so I chose to listen to it on tape. I was thoroughly surprised to find myself laughing at the overly-honest Gabriel Oak proposing marriage to Bathsheba Everdene, I had been informed that this book was something of a rural comedy but I had not expected such preposterous situations and ironies. The novel centers around Bathsheba though I would not label her the heroine because the reader is often frustrated by her behavior and even annoyed by it. She is quite poor but a smart girl and a particularly beautiful one as well. Gabriel meets her and soon decides he must marry this young woman. She declines deciding that she can't love him and soon moves away. Gabriel loses his farm in an unfortunate event and through circumstance comes to be in the same part of Wessex as Bathsheba. She has inherited her uncle's farm and is now running it herself and she is in need of a sheperd and sheperding happens to be Gabriels forte so he is hired. Farmer Boldwood who runs the neighboring farm becomes smitten with Bathsheba too when he recieves a prank valentine saying "marry me" on the seal(this valentine was sent by Bathsheba and her maid/companion). He soon asks for Bathsheba's hand and Bathsheba who feels guilty for causing this man's desire says she will answer him upon his return in two months time. The union with Boldwood is not to be since Bathsheba falls deeply in love with Frank Troy and soon marries him. An ex-girlfriend of Troy's shows up but dies shortly after giving birth, Troy is heartbroken and tells Bathsheba that he loved Fanny more and still does. Troy leaves and soon is assumed dead but is truly only missing. Boldwood moves in one Bathsheba again but in a set of bizarre events Troy returns to take Bathsheba from Boldwood once more. Boldwood is infuriated and turmoil ensues. This is an escapist novel in these times and is well worth reading. Weatherbury and Casterbridge will charm you and allow you to experience the little oddities of Victorian Era rural life in the pleasantest way imaginable.