Far From the Madding Crowd

This book is by Thomas Hardy, an English novelist of the early 20th century.  The heroine is Bathsheba, but she is a tragic character, struggling against her passions and social circumstances, a favorite topic for writers of this time.  Three different men love her and want her as their wife, but her capricious folly and skewed ideas of what love means cause her to make tragic choices.  The writing style is very descriptive and I especially admired his description of a stormy night where I could feel and wind and cold and see and hear the lightning, etc.  It is also a lesson in the agrarian life of its characters.  The societal dos and don'ts limit the desires of the people and cause scandal and distress to the townspeople.  Bathsheba is a strong, independent woman, but succumbs to her misled passions, realizing too late the consequences of her rash choices.  I enjoyed the book.  If you've read it, tell me what you think the title represents!!

This book was just lovely. It saved me on my 9 hour flight from Venice to Canada where I hadn't downloaded the app to watch movies on the plane. I freaked out for a minute then realized I had this book to read!

It is set in Ireland as the author is a famous Irish novelist. Chicky is a girl who leaves her homeland for New York and returns years later. She buys an old house and sets up a bed and breakfast. The story begins with her story, and then each chapter is the background and story of characters who come to stay at her bed and breakfast for a week in winter. It really is like reading a bunch of short stories, but they all connect somehow. Characters are mentioned in others chapters and then you get to learn their background during their own chapter. Well written and an easy read. It was fun and made me think about going to Ireland someday, but not in winter!