Far from the Madding Crowd
by Thomas Hardy
Published in 1874, Far from the Madding Crowd is often considered Hardy's first masterpiece.
The story follows Bathsheba Everdene's life in the rural village of Weatherby, where she has come to live after inheriting her wealthy uncle's estate. The story is one of successive courtships, starting with Gabriel Oak, a young shepherd, but soon followed by the somewhat repressed William Boldwood, an older but prosperous farmer, and finally the dashing Sergeant Francis "Frank" Troy, who returns to Weatherby where he has a love interest in Bathsheba's former servant Fanny Robin.
The story evolves through a series of unexpected twists and turns where fate seems to be more often determined by chance than by choice.
Chapter I: Description of Farmer Oak -- An Incident
Chapter II: Night -- the Flock -- An Interior -- Another Interior
Chapter III: A Girl on Horseback -- Conversation
Chapter IV: Gabriel's Resolve -- the Visit -- the Mistake
Chapter V: Departure of Bathsheba -- a Pastoral Tragedy
Chapter VI: The Fair -- the Journey -- the Fire
Chapter VII: Recognition -- a Timid Girl
Chapter VIII: The Malthouse -- the Chat -- News
Chapter IX: The Homestead -- a Visitor -- Half-Confidences
Chapter XI: Outside the Barracks -- Snow -- a Meeting
Chapter XII: Farmers -- a Rule -- in Exception
Chapter XIII: Sortes Sanctorum -- the Valentine
Chapter XIV: Effect of the Letter -- Sunrise
Chapter XV: A Morning Meeting -- the Letter Again
Chapter XVI: All Saints' and All Souls'
Chapter XVII: In the Market-Place
Chapter XVIII: Boldwood in Meditation -- Regret
Chapter XIX: The Sheep-Washing -- the Offer
Chapter XX: Perplexity -- Grinding the Shears -- a Quarrel
Chapter XXI: Troubles in the Fold -- a Message
Chapter XXII: The Great Barn and the Sheep-Shearers
Chapter XXIII: Eventide -- a Second Declaration
Chapter XXIV: The Same Night -- the Fir Plantation
Chapter XXV: The New Acquaintance Described
Chapter XXVI: Scene on the Verge of the Hay-Mead
Chapter XXVII: Hiving the Bees
Chapter XXVIII: The Hollow Amid the Ferns
Chapter XXIX: Particulars of a Twilight Walk
Chapter XXX: Hot Cheeks and Tearful Eyes
Chapter XXXII: Night -- Horses Tramping
Chapter XXXIII: In the Sun -- a Harbinger
Chapter XXXIV: Home Again -- a Trickster
Chapter XXXV: At an Upper Window
Chapter XXXVI: Wealth in Jeopardy -- the Revel
Chapter XXXVII: The Storm -- the Two Together
Chapter XXXVIII: Rain -- One Solitary Meets Another
Chapter XXXIX: Coming Home -- a Cry
Chapter XL: On Casterbridge Highway
Chapter XLI: Suspicion -- Fanny Is Sent for
Chapter XLII: Joseph and His Burden
Chapter XLIII: Fanny's Revenge
Chapter XLIV: Under a Tree -- Reaction
Chapter XLV: Troy's Romanticism
Chapter XLVI: The Gurgoyle: Its Doings
Chapter XLVII: Adventures by the Shore
Chapter XLVIII: Doubts Arise -- Doubts Linger
Chapter XLIX: Oak's Advancement -- a Great Hope
Chapter L: The Sheep Fair -- Troy Touches His Wife's Hand
Chapter LI: Bathsheba Talks with Her Outrider
Chapter LII: Converging Courses
Chapter LIII: Concurritur -- Horae Momento
Chapter LV: The March Following -- "Bathsheba Boldwood"
Chapter LVI: Beauty in Loneliness -- After All
Chapter LVII: A Foggy Night and Morning -- Conclusion