A cruel joke at a country fair goes too far when a drunken laborer auctions off his wife and child to the highest bidder. So begins "The Mayor of Casterbridge, " Thomas Hardy's gripping tale of a man's rise and fall amid the natural beauty and human brutality of a rural English community. First published serially in 1886, the novel was an immediate success with critics, who praised its realism and poetic style. Rich in descriptive powers and steeped in irony, this timeless tale offers a spellbinding portrayal of ambition, rivalry, revenge, and repentance.