Thomas Hardy

The Woodlanders Illustrated Thomas Hardy

The Woodlanders is a novel by Thomas Hardy. It was serialised from May 1886 to April 1887 in Macmillan's Magazine[1] and published in three volumes in 1887.[2] It is one of his series of Wessex novels. Thomas Hardy's 1887 novel "The Woodlanders" takes place in the woodland village of Little Hintock and concerns the story of Giles Winterborne, an honest woodsman who wishes to marry his childhood sweetheart, Grace Melbury. While the two are informally betrothed to each other, when Grace gains an education through her father's persistent financial sacrifices he feels that his daughter is too good for a simple woodsman and pushes her into the direction of another suitor. Set in a rustic, evocative setting, "The Woodlanders" is rich with such Hardyan themes as unrequited love and social class mobility. A classic novel, "The Woodlanders" is a worthy addition to the works of Thomas Hardy and fans of the author will enjoy this somber and tragic tale.