The Woodlanders

"The Woodlanders" was published in 1887 and Thomas Hardy himsef estimated it as his best novel. It is one of the six masterpieces of Thomas Hardy's Wessex novels.

The work is a pessimistic attack on a society that values high status and socially sanctioned behaviour over good character and honest emotions.
The story begins as Grace Melbury, daughter of a timber merchant in a Dorset village, returns from finishing school and rejects her simple but understanding fiancé, the apple grower Giles Winterbourne. Grace accedes to the urgings of her father and marries Edred Fitzpiers, a young doctor of great charm but questionable moral character. Grace soon turns to Giles for comfort after Edred goes off with Mrs. Felice Charmond, a local upper-class woman. Giles, who is seriously ill, relinquishes his cottage to Grace and moves into a rude hut, where he soon dies of exposure. Although Grace mourns his loss, she eventually reconciles with Edred...