Published in 1886, "The Mayor of Casterbridge" is one of Thomas Hardy’s famous Wessex novels, set in a fictional town in rural England. It depicts the life of a hay trusser, Michael Henchard, who auctions his wife and baby girl to a sailor in a drunken state. Nineteen years later, Henchard establishes himself as the mayor of Casterbridge but the deplorable truth of his erstwhile life lies buried in his heart. At this pinnacle of success, his past revisits him when his wife and daughter return to Casterbridge. A tragic account of a deceptive man, "The Mayor of Casterbridge" is considered to be a masterpiece of Hardy’s deeply imagined dramatic works.