One of Hardy's most powerful novels, <i>The Mayor of Casterbridge</i> opens with a shocking and haunting scene: In a drunken rage, Michael Henchard sells his wife and daughter to a visiting sailor at a local fair. When they return to Casterbridge some nineteen years later, Henchard—having gained power and success as the mayor—finds he cannot erase the past or the guilt that consumes him. <i>The Mayor of Casterbridge</i> is a rich, psychological novel about a man whose own flaws combine with fate to cause his ruin. <br><br>This Modern Library Paperback Classic reprints the authoritative 1912 Wessex edition, as well as Hardy's map of Wessex.