“Happiness was but the occasional episode in a general drama of pain.” — Thomas Hardy Michael Henchard, a man of pride and passion, makes a single drunken decision that seals his tragic destiny: selling his wife and child at a country fair. Years later, having risen to prominence as the respected Mayor of Casterbridge, his past returns to haunt him. In this riveting tale of guilt, pride, and redemption, Thomas Hardy exposes the profound consequences of one’s choices and the relentless grip of fate. A masterwork of Victorian literature, The Mayor of Casterbridge is a haunting reminder that no man can truly escape the shadows of his own making.