This updated authoritative edition of the classic Hardy novel, which was published anonymously and first attributed to George Eliot, is set from Hardy's revised, unedited final draft of 1912 and features a new Introduction and Afterword. There is in England no more real or typical district than Thomas Hardy's imaginary Wessex, the scattered fields and farms of which were first discovered in Far from the Madding Crowd. It is here that Gabriel Oak observes...

Beautiful Eustacia is torn between two suitors--one who would help her escape her routine life in nineteenth-century rural England, and another who would make their home the Wessex heath where he was raised.

Mary Scudder lives with her widowed mother and their boarder, Dr. Hopkins, a Calvinist minister who is dedicated to helping the slaves arriving at Newport. Mary admires Hopkins but is in love with the passionate and sceptical James Marvyn who, hungry for adventure, sets sail for exotic destinations.

The story of Little Nell, the beautiful child thrown into a shadowy, terrifying world, seems to belong less to the history of the Victorian novel than to folklore, fairy tale, or myth. The sorrows of Nell and her grandfather are offset by Dickens's creation of a dazzling contemporary world inhabited by some of his most brilliantly drawn characters-the eloquent ne'er-do-well Dick Swiveller; the hungry maid known as the "Marchioness"; the mannish lawyer...

When Tess Durbeyfield is driven by family poverty to claim kinship with the wealthy D'Urbervilles and seek a portion of their family fortune, meeting her 'cousin' Alec proves to be her downfall. A very different man, Angel Clare, seems to offer her love and salvation, but Tess must choose whether to reveal her past or remain silent in the hope of a peaceful future.

Eva's teacher, Miss Featherbottom, is getting married, but when her special necklace disappears, Eva and her friends set out to track down the thief and return the necklace before the wedding.

Twelve-year-old Hailey has high expectations for her family's annual duck hunt, but between her excitable young dog Cocoa ruining several shots and a strained family dynamic she learns that wanting a certain outcome does not guarantee it.

Warm Hearts Day is approaching and Eva has been making lots of fun gifts and treats for her friends, but as the big party at the Old Oak Tree nears, she realizes that she has neglected to make any gifts for her family.