The Distracted Preacher and Other Tales — Thomas Hardy (Penguin English Library)

Description

'The Distracted Preacher and Other Tales' is a collection of short stories by Thomas Hardy, drawn from his 'Wessex Tales' and other fictional works. The title story, 'The Distracted Preacher', follows a young Methodist preacher who becomes involved with a group of smugglers after falling in love with Lizzy Newberry, the daughter of a local farmer. The collection brings together stories of love, deception, social convention and the strange turns of fate, set largely among the rural communities of Hardy's fictional Wessex. Hardy's characteristic combination of humour, irony and sympathy for ordinary people gives these tales both their warmth and their darker edge.