The Woodlanders

This was one of Hardy's favourites among his own novels, especially for the story. There is some evidence that Hardy began the novel in 1874, following the success of his earlier novel, Far from the Madding Crowd, only to set it aside for over ten years. Indeed, there are certain parallels between, for instance, the rustic, luckless, faithful and dependable Giles Winterborne and Gabriel Oak from that earlier novel.