The Mayor of Casterbridge

"Life is an oasis which is submerged in the swirling waves of sorrows."
Published in 1886, The Mayor of Casterbridge is one of Thomas Hardy's famous Wessex novels. The novel depicts the life of a hay trusser, Michael Henchard, who auctions his wife and baby girl to a sailor in a drunken state.
Nineteen years later, Henchard establishes himself as the mayor of Casterbridge but the deplorable truth of his erstwhile life lies buried in his heart. His past revisits him when his wife and daughter return to Casterbridge.
A tragic account of a deceptive man, this novel is considered to be a masterpiece of Hardy's deeply imagined dramatic works.