Far from the Madding Crowd Far from the Madding Crowd Far from the Madding Crowd (1874) is Thomas Hardy's fourth novel and his first major literary success. It originally appeared anonymously as a monthly serial in "Cornhill Magazine", where it gained a wide readership. The novel is the first to be set in Hardy's fictional region of Wessex in rural south west England. It deals in themes of love, honour and betrayal, against a backdrop of the seemingly idyllic, but often harsh, realities of a farming community in Victorian England. It describes the farmer Bathsheba Everdene, her life and relationships – especially with her lonely
The King Who Would Have a Beautiful Wife The King Who Would Have a Beautiful Wife The King who would have a Beautiful Wife or The King Who Wanted a Beautiful Wife is an Italian fairy tale collected by Laura Gonzenbach in "Sicilianische Märchen". Thomas Crane included in his "Italian Popular Tales", and Andrew Lang, in "The Pink Fairy Book". Italo Calvino included a variant The Three Crones, from Venice, in "Italian Folktales". A king was determined to find a beautiful wife. He himself, searched high and low to find the love he so desired, but he failed to do so . Finally, he sent a trustworthy servant