Mayor of Casterbridge, The by Thomas Hardy, Rick Moody (Introduction); 1886/2001. Hardcover. (Oxford World's Classics)

The Mayor of Casterbridge opens with an act of such heartlessness and cruelty that it still shocks today. Michael Henchard, an out-of-work hay-trusser, gets drunk at a fair and for five guineas sells his wife and child to a sailor. When the horror of his act finally sets in, Henchard swears he will not touch alcohol for twenty-one years. Through hard work and acumen, he becomes rich, respected, and eventually the mayor of Casterbridge.

But eighteen years after his fateful oath his wife and daughter, Elizabeth-Jane, return to Casterbridge, and his fortunes steadily decline. He clashes with his business assistant, Donald Farfrae, who soon becomes his major rival. He ruins his business through impulsive speculations and takes to drinking again. In the end, Farfrae owns Henchard's business and his house, has gained the affection of his lover Lucetta, and has even become mayor of Casterbridge. In a final insult, Farfrae marries Elizabeth-Jane. Having lost everything he once possessed, Henchard dies broken and bereft in a miserable hut.

Rick Moody offers in his introduction penetrating insight into the character of Henchard and the crippling deficiencies that guarantee his ruin.