THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE - THOMAS HARDY (COLLINS CLASSICS)

When Henchard, an out-of-work hay-trusser gets drunk and sells his wife at a country fair, his life will never be the same. Eighteen years later his wife and daughter return to Casterbridge to find that Henchard has become Mayor. Although he's spent most of his life attempting to repent for his actions, he remains a rash and impetuous man. Hardy portrays Henchard as a tragic hero, searching for love and acceptaince from the community around him, posing the overarching question of whether we shape our own fate or whether life deals us an inevitable hand.