Why a Booktrail?
1800s: Short stories showing Hardy’s Wessex in all its glory.
Wessex Tales
What you need to know before your trail
These Hardy stories reveal the true nature of nineteenth century marriage and its many restrictions. There was a lot of restriction in society at the time and if marriage did not separate and control then social class did. Women had it worst of all and those who were weak and ill were at the lowest end of the social scale. Simple ailments would often lead to more serious ones if not death.
The 19th Century was a time, a facade almost for society and those who lived during it appeared to be living behind a veil. All the stories reveal this is one way or another.
Locations
ResetTravel Guide
Hardy Country
Hardy described his landscape “Wessex” and in Far from the Madding Crowd describes his country as the “partly real, partly dream-country” that unifies his South West England
The village of Puddletown, near Dorchester, is the inspiration for Hardy’s Weatherbury. Dorchester, in turn, is said to have inspired Hardy’s Casterbridge which appears in The Major of Casterbridge
Higher Bockhampton is the place for Hardy fans to visit as this is Wessex in one place – and is where the literary man was born.
Booktrail Boarding Pass Information: Wessex Tales
Author/Guide: Thomas Hardy Destination: “Wessex”, Dorchester, Higher Bockhampton Departure Time:1800s
Back to ResultsWhere Next?
