The Woodlanders (1887)

It was well written, but too depressing for my taste; too many sad stories, too much love wasted on the wrong people. Hardy's literary talent can't be overlooked, so anything he writes will get at least three stars from me, but I prefer the other novels of his I've read to this one, even ones with sad themes. For some reason, they didn't leave me feeling sad the way this one did. ( )

Good light reading. ( )

In my recent Hardy readings, this one was the hardest to really dig into. I had one restart and it kept getting pushed aside for other reads. But once I finally got started, I enjoyed it alot. The theme of the new/modern world bumping against the old/traditional one played out in many ways, mainly in the character of Grace Melbury. I found her very sympathetic, not as fiesty as Elfride of A Pair of Blue Eyes but still trying to find her own way. However, Marty South was a hidden gem and her last two paragraphs stole the whole novel for me.

This melodramatic tale is not up to par with Hardy's four big classics, but it's worth a read if you're a fan of the author.
Grace Melbury has been effectively engaged to Giles Winterborne for years. But Grace has been sent off to school for a better education, while Giles has stayed in the tiny village of Little Hintock and worked his apple cidering trade. Grace's father is concerned that she will never be satisfied with the rural life Giles can provide for her, and indeed, Grace is worried about that too, although she cares deeply for him. Upon being wooed by the dashing and flirtatious Dr. Fitzpiers, the engagement is broken off and Grace marries the young doctor. A doctor who is no sooner married than he is off wooing a different woman.
There are several other local characters tied up in this tangled story of love, betrayal, and infidelity, but these are the primary ones. One of the reasons I've loved Hardy's "big four" is the mood of the rural English countryside at the end of the 18th century. Little was devoted to the setting in The Woodlanders. Hardy dives almost instantly into the plot, and sticks with that almost enirely, leaving the setting to whatever the reader imagines. For me, this made it a weaker, less enjoyable novel. ( )

Hardy once again evokes the romance and power of the English countryside in this, one of his later novels. Grace Melbury, a middle-class country girl, falls in love with Giles Winterborne, a woodsman who loves the land and Grace. Grace, however, falls for a suave newcomer to her small patch -- a relationship that her father encourages because he is socially ambitious. The novel, like many of Hardy's works, ends in tragedy, but the pathetic fallacy Hardy evokes makes this small book one of his best novels. ( )