14 minSummaryRead it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook editionPaperback · 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
You will enjoy this if you love rural settings, tangled love stories and quiet, observant storytelling. It suits readers who like village talk and ordinary people arguing over duty, money and old loyalties.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Marty gives up her hair
- A father's promise meets his pride
- Grace returns with different expectations
- The doctor makes feeling an idea
- Giles loses his place through law
- Others steer Grace toward marriage
- Marriage leaves room for wandering
- The woods share the human story
- Private feeling carries public pressures
Who’s who
- Grace MelburyThe timber merchant's educated daughter, caught between her father's hopes, her old friend Giles and a husband she hardly knows.
- Giles WinterborneA quiet apple and cider grower who loves Grace, knows the woods deeply, and depends on leases that may be lost.
- George MelburyA self-made timber merchant who loves his daughter fiercely and tries to repay an old wrong through her marriage.
- Marty SouthA poor, sharp-eyed young woodworker who sells her hair, supports her sick father, and loves Giles in silence.
- Edgar FitzpiersA clever, restless young doctor from an old family who studies philosophy and follows his feelings wherever they lead.
- Felice CharmondThe wealthy, lonely owner of Hintock House, who wants company and admiration and whose moods change like the weather.
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The Woodlanders
by Thomas Hardy · 1887
A girl cuts off her hair for a rich lady's wig, and a timber merchant's plan for his daughter starts to unravel.
Medium level5–10 hours to read20 languages
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In short
What would you give up for a sovereign, or for two? In a dark cottage in the woods, a young woman named Marty South is offered gold for her hair, and her answer sets a whole village in motion.
The Woodlanders at a glance
- Reading time
- About 8 h 55 min7 h 5 min fast, 10 h 35 min slow
- Length
- 127,000 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1887by Thomas Hardy
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A girl sells her hair on a winter night
A town barber named Percombe asks the way to Little Hintock. He has come for the hair of Marty South, who sits by the fire making thatching spars with a billhook. Her father is ill upstairs, and she works through the night to earn the timber merchant's rate.
The barber works for a wealthy lady, Mrs. Charmond, whose hair matches Marty's shade exactly. He offers a sovereign, then two. Marty refuses and says her hair is her own. Then she carries her spars out in the small hours and overhears Melbury, the timber merchant, say he means to marry his daughter to Giles Winterborne.
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Details
- First published
- 1887
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 10 h 0 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Hardy, Thomas. The Woodlanders. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-woodlanders.
Hardy, T. (2026). The woodlanders. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-woodlanders (Original work published 1887)
Hardy, Thomas. The Woodlanders. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-woodlanders.
@book{hardy2026woodlanders,
author = {Hardy, Thomas},
title = {The Woodlanders},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-woodlanders},
note = {First published 1887}
}
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What is The Woodlanders about?
It tells of a timber merchant who plans to marry his educated daughter to a humble apple grower, then changes course for a doctor. The story follows love, class and loyalty among the people of a woodland village.
Who is Marty South in The Woodlanders?
Marty is a poor young woman who makes thatching spars to support her sick father. She loves Giles Winterborne quietly, and she sells her hair to a barber, which sets later events in motion.
Where and when is The Woodlanders set?
It takes place in the fictional villages of Little and Great Hintock, in the wooded countryside of Hardy's Wessex, in the nineteenth century. The book follows the year in orchards, copses and timber yards.
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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