Under the Greenwood Tree

First published in 1872, this Wessex novel follows the Mellstock parish choir of string players as a new vicar and a cabinet organ threaten their old place in the west gallery. Parallel to that change, Dick Dewy, a carter's son, courts Fancy Day, the schoolmistress, against the interest of Farmer Shiner and the vicar himself. Cottage dances, Christmas rounds, and village talk fill the seasons. The conflict is social and amorous rather than tragic: who will play in church and who will marry Fancy. The book is a pastoral comedy of rural custom, not a crime story and not a later Hardy tragedy of fate.

Bound in dark green series binding decorated in pale green. Map endleaves. Pale green or pale brown slipcase.