The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), subtitled The Life and Death of a Man of Character, is a tragic novel by British author Thomas Hardy. It is set in the fictional town of Casterbridge. The book is one of Hardy's Wessex novels, all set in a fictional rustic England.
A novel that successfully compares the onset of the Industrial Revolution to the impassioned and competitive relationship between two men in a provincial town, this story tells of Michael Henchard and a newcomer, Donald Farfrae. Henchard has ascended in Casterbridge to become a successful businessman and the town mayor. However, his deceitful ways alienate many of his allies, and he soon finds himself ousted by the newcomer, whose political nous and logical thinking mean that he has the upper hand over his more emotionally charged rival.
