Also among the cast is rising starlet Juno Temple ( The Dark Knight Rises) in an undisclosed role.Īs Bathsheba flirts with the idea of a life with each of these suitors, the story explores the nature of passion and love, while revealing mankind’s ability to overcome hardship through resilience and perseverance. Welsh star Michael Sheen, who is best known for biopics like Frost/Nixon and vampire tales like Underworld and the Twilight series, will portray the December to her May as Boldwood. English newcomer Tom Sturridge ( On the Road) will be her Sergeant Troy, having won the role over Stoker star Matthew Goode. Belgian actor Matthias Schoenaerts, who recently co-starred with Marion Cotillard in the acclaimed romantic drama Rust and Bone, will play her shepherd Oak. I frequently found myself bookmarking chapters on the audio so that when I got home I could look up the printed version and immerse myself all over again.Carey Mulligan, who was first considered for the role last fall, will play the feisty and fickle heroine Bathsheba. This book is pure joy and so many of Hardy’s passages are simply breathtaking. I also loved her narration of the rural scenes with the farmworkers which could have been patronising, but were not. It takes a particular skill to get the voices of the opposite sex right and the narrator achieves this extremely well, conveying very successfully the variations in character between Bathsheba’s suitors, Gabriel Oak, Farmer Boldwood and Sergeant Troy. I experienced Far From the Madding Crowd on audio this time, a 2020 release narrated by Olivia Vinall, which was brilliant. Hardy might even be considered an early feminist writer. They are even allowed to have sex! Poor, unfortunate Fanny Robin, pregnant out of wedlock by Sergeant Troy, dies penniless in childbirth. Hardy also allows his female characters to feel lust, passion and to follow through on their desires. Young, spirited, independent and ambitious, Hardy puts her in a position of power (running a business, a thriving farm) which would have been rare for women at the time. I adore the Roman Polanski film adaptation from 1980, starring Nastassja Kinski which is so loyal to the book.īathsheba Everdene is one of English literature’s iconic female characters. My favourite is Jude the Obscure, or at least it used to, but perhaps my feelings would be different now, closely followed by Tess of the D’Urbervilles, which I studied at school (a ‘first love’ if you like). Although it is not my “favourite” Hardy novel, it definitely makes my top five. I was delighted when my book club decided we’d read Far From the Madding Crowd.
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