15 h 27 minAudiobook13 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 15 h 27 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the education meant to give you a better life draws you away from the person who loves you?
In Little Hintock, a village hidden in the woods of Wessex, people live by timber, orchards and cider. Grace Melbury returns from an expensive education caught between her roots and a more refined life. Her father, George Melbury, wants her to rise, while quiet orchard man Giles Winterborne loves her and trusts an old promise.
Then Edred Fitzpiers, a learned young doctor from an old family, enters this close woodland world. His rank and charm offer Grace a different future. Around them, Marty South loves Giles in silence, and wealthy widow Felice Charmond longs for excitement. Thomas Hardy brings their tangled desires into a story where love, loyalty and social standing pull against one another.
What you’ll discover
- A village among trees Enter narrow woodland roads where work depends on trees and days follow the seasons.
- A daughter between worlds Follow Grace as education opens possibilities while making her place at home less certain.
- Love without grand gestures Meet Giles, whose quiet devotion stands beside the promise of rank and learning.
- Lives beyond the courtship Discover Marty’s hard work and silent love, alongside Felice Charmond’s restless hunger for excitement.
- The cost of rising Explore what happens when a father’s hopes and a daughter’s heart point different ways.
Who will love it
For readers who love rural stories about love and duty, village life among woods and orchards, and the choices that set loyalty against class and ambition.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Little Hintock is a world made by trees
- Marty South sells her hair for nothing in return
- Melbury plans a better life for Grace
- Giles loses his footing in the village
- A learned doctor arrives and Hintock takes notice
- Grace chooses the doctor and the promise breaks
- Marriage shows the true Fitzpiers
- What the novel says about class, love and law
- How Hardy tells it and why it lasts
Who’s who
- Grace MelburyThe timber merchant's educated daughter, caught between her village roots and a refined life, and unsure which of them she truly wants.
- Giles WinterborneA quiet orchard man and cider maker who loves Grace, trusts an old promise and asks for little in return.
- George MelburyA prosperous timber merchant who longs to lift his daughter higher, yet feels bound by an old debt to Giles's family.
- Edred FitzpiersA learned young doctor from an old family, charming and restless, whose feelings change as quickly as his surroundings.
- Marty SouthA poor spar maker who works long hours, cares for her sick father and loves Giles in silence.
- Felice CharmondThe wealthy widow of Hintock House, bored by country life and drawn to anything that promises excitement.
Formats and delivery
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- Audiobook
- 15 h 27 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 13 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Read and hear Die Waldmenschen in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Die Waldmenschen
by Thomas Hardy · 1887
In Little Hintock, a timber merchant's educated daughter is torn between a faithful orchard man and a clever doctor.
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In short
The Woodlanders is a novel by Thomas Hardy, published in book form in 1887. It is set in Little Hintock, a small village hidden in the woods of Wessex, Hardy's name for the south west of England around his native Dorset.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Little Hintock is a world made by trees
Hardy opens in a hidden hollow of woodland, where the roads are narrow and the days follow the seasons. Little Hintock is a place where almost everyone earns a living from trees. Men fell timber and trim coppice. Women make spars, the pointed sticks that thatchers use to pin down roofs. Orchards are pruned, and apples are pressed into cider in the autumn.
This is not the gentle countryside of a postcard. Hardy shows work that is hard on hands and backs, and a village where everyone knows everyone else's business. People are tied together by old favours, old wrongs and old promises, and the ties are rarely written down. A word given thirty years ago can still decide who marries whom.
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What is The Woodlanders about?
It is about love and class in the Dorset village of Little Hintock. A timber merchant's educated daughter is torn between a faithful orchard man and a clever doctor, while loyalty and ambition pull the villagers apart.
Who are the main characters in The Woodlanders?
The main figures are Grace Melbury, her father George, the orchard man Giles Winterborne, the doctor Edred Fitzpiers, the spar maker Marty South and the wealthy widow Mrs Charmond.
Where is The Woodlanders set?
It is set in Little Hintock, a fictional woodland village in Wessex, Hardy's name for the south west of England. The setting is based on the countryside around his native Dorset.
The author
Thomas Hardy
1840–1928 · English novelist and poet
Thomas Hardy (1840–1928) was an English novelist and poet. He was born in Dorset and lived in Dorset and London. His novels include Far from the Madding Crowd (1874), The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), and Tess of the d’Urbervilles (1891). He published poetry collections from 1898 until his death.
More by Thomas Hardy
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