I had never read this and it turns out it was--- not surprisingly--- very good. Light for Hardy with lots of drama and tension. Bathsheba is a flawed but appealing heroine and you honestly don't know where Hardy is going with her three suitors. Well that is not exactly true----Hardy will always err on the side of Nature and the Land and by naming a character Gabriel Oak and saying about him "
among the multitude of interests by which he was surrounded, those which affected his personal well-being were not the most absorbing and important in his eyes" there was a tip-off. At times I actually found myself desperate to get back to it and see "what happens next".
Surprisingly although Bathsheba is a strong female character who inherits her uncle's farm and runs it herself without a bailiff Hardy could not resist quite a few little misogynist jabs but in the end the story itself overwhelms his petty remarks.
If I ever unpack all my books I want to get out my Hardy biography and re-read what he was up to when this was written.
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