Under the Greenwood Tree — Thomas Hardy

Description

'Under the Greenwood Tree' is a pastoral novel set in the fictional Wessex village of Mellstock, where the traditional church musicians face the threat of being replaced by a new mechanical organ. At the centre of the story is Dick Dewy, a young member of the village choir, whose courtship of Fancy Day, the newly appointed schoolmistress, becomes complicated by her other admirers and uncertain feelings. Hardy portrays the rhythms of rural life, seasonal customs, courtship and village community while gently depicting the tension between old traditions and modern change. First published in 1872, the novel is one of Hardy's most warmly humorous and affectionate works.