Michael Henchard, who in a drunken auction sells his wife and child, rises to become Mayor of Casterbridge before his past and his own temper bring him down.
Books mentioned in The Mayor of Casterbridge (1)
The Whole Duty of Man by Richard Allestree: “Pembroke tables, with leaves hanging so low that they well-nigh touched the floor, stood against the walls on legs and feet shaped like those of an elephant, and on one lay three huge folio volumes--a Family Bible, a "Josephus," and a "Whole Duty of Man."”
Books that mention The Mayor of Casterbridge (2)
A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth: “Came home, read a few pages of The Mayor of Casterbridge and slept early.”
The Common Reader: Second Series by Virginia Woolf: “...and above all, in The Mayor of Casterbridge, we have Hardy's impression of life as it came to him without conscious ordering.”