Set in the heart of the Wessex, this book charts the rise and downfall of a single 'man of character'. It's moving and contrived narrative is Shakespearian in its force, and features some of the author's episodes and passages of description.

When a man sells his wife, he should not expect to get away with it. Michael Henchard forswears drink for twenty-one years and becomes the successful mayor of a thriving industrial town, but his mistake returns to hunt him.