<Tr> <Th> Preceded by </Th> <Td> A Pair of Blue Eyes </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Followed by </Th> <Td> The Hand of Ethelberta </Td> </Tr> <P> Far from the Madding Crowd (1874) is Thomas Hardy's fourth novel and his first major literary success . It originally appeared anonymously as a monthly serial in Cornhill Magazine, where it gained a wide readership . </P> <P> The novel is the first to be set in Hardy's fictional region of Wessex in rural south west England . It deals in themes of love, honour and betrayal, against a backdrop of the seemingly idyllic, but often harsh, realities of a farming community in Victorian England . It describes the farmer Bathsheba Everdene, her life and relationships--especially with her lonely neighbour William Boldwood, the faithful shepherd Gabriel Oak, and the thriftless soldier Sergeant Troy . </P>

When is far from the madding crowd released