Tal vez, la novela no adquiere suficiente ritmo e intensidad hasta qu Qué bueno es este difunto escritor de otros tiempos! Su descripción de la naturaleza es minuciosa y desapasionada, acompañando los matices de la putrefacción de las hojas caídas durante el otoño y el invierno, y el despertar de la vida en la primavera. Una primavera con pájaros, pero esencialmente vegetal. Y los hombres y mujeres que viven en ella. P.Ingham, The Language of Class and Gender: Transformation in the English Novel, London: Routledge, 1995, Penny Boumelha, ‘The Patriarchy of Class: Under the Greenwood Tree, Far from the Madding Crowd, The Woodlanders‘. in Dale Kramer (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Thomas Hardy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 130-44.

Suke Damson, a pretty, amoral young village girl who has an affair with Dr. Fitzpiers before his marriage. Although it is a passing relationship for him, Suke falls deeply in love. After her marriage, she reveals unwittingly to her husband that her affections lie elsewhere. Chapter XXII. Melbury visits Fitzpiers and agrees to let him pay court to Grace, based on nothing more than a snobbish regard for the doctor’s family name and reputation.Hardy's characters are quite human, they are always looking for happiness in the wrong places, making bad choices, missing the best opportunities. Here is not different. Marty loves Giles who loves Grace who loves him no more. She is unsure about her feelings since she returned from a period of studies in the town. The small village where she grew up doesn't look much attractive now, neither Giles does. She dreams about going abroad with Mrs. Charmond, the rich landowner widow, while she flirts with the newcomer young doctor - he also came from the town. Soon all of them will be facing the unavoidable fate. Grace herself, a delicately feminine character is now the social hope of the family and becomes the books focal point for morality and duty, as she struggles with her obligation to Giles and her fascination with Edred, the local doctor. There were two levels of revision made to the work at each of these stages. The first were minor issues of emphasis to the story which Hardy made in response to reader’s criticism. In editing terms, these are called substantives. The second level is matters of punctuation and text presentation (such as capitalization, spelling, speech marks, and italics). These might have been Hardy’s revisions, but they would often be governed by the publisher’s house style. If you have never read Thomas Hardy before, start with Tess of the D'Urbervilles or Far from the Madding Crowd. I think they are better stories with more sympathetic protagonists. Having said that The Woodlanders is Hardy’s own favorite of his works so what do I know? I seem to have read all his major works now, though, so I don’t know if I will read the rest. If this is the last Hardy novel I read (rereads notwithstanding) it is a pretty high (but not happy) note to end on.

Chapter XXXII. Melbury goes to see Mrs Charmond and asks her to have pity on Grace, and to befriend her again so as to quash the scandalous rumours about an illicit relationship with Fitzpiers. Send your final signed application and any necessary supporting evidence and documentation to RPA. Send LTA1 and RLE1 forms if the application includes land in an ES agreement. You do not need to send any consents with your application but you must obtain consent before you carry out any work where a consent is needed. We may ask to see evidence of this. Our group is 10 years old this year.” explained Jamie Ritchie of the Group, “We are reviewing our activity and planning for the future. ‘Knighton Tree Allotments Trust’ does not truly reflect what the group has grown to be. Our new name ‘Knighton Community Woodlands Group’ gives a much better idea of who we are and what we do.” About Knighton Community Woodlands GroupChapter IV. Melbury despatches Giles to collect his daughter Grace, who is returning from college. Melbury would like her to marry Giles, even though he doesn’t think him high enough in class terms. He thinks of this as compensation for having won his first wife from Giles’s father. Chapter VI. Giles drives Grace home, trying to revive their past relationship as sweethearts – without success. Grammer Oliver tells Grace about Fitzpiers, a doctor who experiments in science and anatomy who has moved into the locality. We are looking for volunteers with the skills we need to expand and put our organisation on a more sustainable footing. Perhaps you have recently retired, or moved to the area, and are looking to use your skills to benefit the environment and the local community? We need volunteers like you with skills in wildlife surveys, fundraising, marketing, sales and ICT. And we always need people for woodland task days – with or without woodland skills as we can teach you what you need to know.