ABSTRACT
The author of Far from the Madding Crowd does not exactly live in a village as many of the admirers of this book may suppose. But to a Londoner’s eye the oldfashioned town, which the novelist has made widely known under the name of Casterbridge, is little more than an overgrown village, and the house Mr Hardy has built for himself is on the verge of the open country, some distance beyond the last Dorchester lamp post. Of this circumstance the representative of the Saturday Journal would have become painfully aware but for the trusty guidance of a young native, who, in reply to an inquiry for Max Gate, promptly volunteered to conduct him thither. As far as could be seen in the darkness the house was of modest dimensions with a pretty porch and large gardens.
