Far from the Madding Crowd a frugal life, and a loan, he has leased and stocked a sheep farm. He falls in love with a newcomer eight years his junior, Bathsheba Everdene, a proud beauty who arrives to live with her aunt, Mrs. Hurst. Over time, Bathsheba and Gabriel grow to like each other well enough, and Bathsheba even saves his life once. However, when he makes her an unadorned offer of marriage, she refuses; she values her independence too much, and him too little. Feeling betrayed and embarrassed, Gabriel offers blunt protestations that only foster her haughtiness. After a few days, she moves to
A Face in the Crowd (novella) A Face in the Crowd (novella) A Face in the Crowd is a novella by Stephen King and Stewart O'Nan, originally published as an e-book on August 21, 2012, as well as an audiobook, read by Craig Wasson. Stephen King and Stewart O'Nan had previously collaborated in 2004 on a non-fiction book "Faithful", chronicling the 2004 Boston Red Sox season. In "Faithful", during a discussion about watching baseball on television, King posits an idea for a story entitled "Spectators", which later evolved into "A Face in the Crowd": Later, when speaking and reading an excerpt from his work in progress