Under The Greenwood Tree

Written by Thomas Hardy

Narrated by Tadhg Hynes

Under the Greenwood Tree, Hardy's second novel, was published in 1872, became the first of his great series of Wessex novels. The book subtitled "A Rural Painting of the Dutch School" tells the endearing tale of a group of church musicians who accompany the hymns at the local Mellstock parish choir and we follow the fortunes of one its member, Dick Dewy, who falls in love with the new school mistress, Fancy Day.

Another element of the book is the battle between the musicians of the 'Quire' and the local vicar, Parson Maybold, who installs a church organ. This battle illustrates the developing technology being introduced in the Victorian era and its threat to traditional country ways.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Big Happy Family
• Release date: Mar 24, 2014
• ISBN: 9781987141603

Thomas Hardy

Thomas Hardy was born in 1840 in Dorchester, Dorset. He enrolled as a student in King’s College, London, but never felt at ease there, seeing himself as socially inferior. This preoccupation with society, particularly the declining rural society, featured heavily in Hardy’s novels, with many of his stories set in the fictional county of Wessex. Since his death in 1928, Hardy has been recognised as a significant poet, influencing The Movement poets in the 1950s and 1960s.