Under the Greenwood Tree

Thomas Hardy was one of the greatest writers and poets of the Victorian era. Hardy was also an esteemed poet but it was his classic novels that earned him lasting fame. Hardy's books are distinguished for their tragic characters and their inner struggles between their desires and social circumstances. Under the Greenwood Tree, published in 1872, is a novel that centers around a group of church musicians. The book is notable for being the first novel to be set in Hardy's fictional Wessex.