The Trumpet-Major: A Tale (Penguin Classics)
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Product Description
Product Description
Anne Garland, who lives with her widowed mother in a mill owned by Miller Loveday, has three suitors: the local squire's nephew Festus and the miller's two sons, Robert and John. While Festus' aggressive pursuit deters the young woman from considering him as a husband, the indecisive Anne wavers between light-hearted Bob and gentle, steadfast John. But as their Wessex village prepares for possible invasion by Napoleon's fleet, all find their destinies increasingly tangled with the events of history. The Loveday brothers, one a sailor and one a soldier, must wrestle with their commitments to their country and their feelings for Anne. Lyrical and light-hearted, yet shot through with irony, The Trumpet-Major (1880) is one of Hardy's most unusual novels and a fascinating tale of love and desire.
About the Author
Thomas Hardy was born in 1840 and wrote both poetry and novels, including Far From the Madding Crowd, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Tess of the D'Urbevilles and Jude the Obscure. He died in 1928
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First Sentence
In the days of high-waisted and muslin-gowned women, when the vast amount of soldiering going on in the country was a cause of much trembling to the sex, diere lived in a village near the Wessex coast two ladies of good report, though unfortunately of limited means.1 Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
In the days of high-waisted and muslin-gowned women, when the vast amount of soldiering going on in the country was a cause of much trembling to the sex, diere lived in a village near the Wessex coast two ladies of good report, though unfortunately of limited means.1 Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
While this is not a great novel, it is an interesting and well written one. I found myself not caring too much about the love triangle that is the main part of the novel. This is quite a serious flaw, especially when you compare it to Far From The Madding Crowd, with which The Trumpet-Major has something in common. If the main plot is weak, the characters are not. They are as interesting and as fully realised as any character in Hardy. But the real strength lies in his description of England as it awaited Napoleon's invasion: The local colour, the patriotism mingled with fear of war, and the empathy with rural people as they live out their lives. If it is not one of Hardy's great tragic masterpieces, it is still a fine book, beautifully written, and one that I would recommend to anyone who wanted a good read.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The Trumpet Major is generally considered to be second-rate or light weight Hardy, but it needs to be said that "second-rate" Hardy is as good as the best of most other writers. The story is indeed almost insubstantial- a variant on the "eternal triangle" only in this case more like a "quadrangle". Three suitors, one a none-starter, are after one attractive and rather elusive girl. All the main characters are, as is customary with Hardy, strongly and lovingly drawn, and the historical background of the Napoleonic period with its gathering of armies and fear of invasion is lightly sketched and does not overwhelm the main theme of human relations in a small rural community. As a self-confessed Hardy addict I have to strongly recommend this book. It would make a good introduction to his work for one who has not previously encountered it.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Warning: this review contains spoilers.
If a Thomas Hardy novel can be characterised by descriptions of landscape and the depiction of its characters within that landscape, then 'The Trumpet-Major' is not a typical Hardy novel.
Hardy adopts a light narrative style with the emphasis on the story of the heroine Anne Garland and her interactions with three suitors, the Loveday brothers (including the eponymous trumpet-major) and Festus Derriman. I found that this story got rather tedious - there were occasions when I felt like telling Anne Garland to "get on with it and make up your mind". The lack of other storylines would have brought some relief from all her dithering, but, unfortunately, there are none.
There is a nice sting in the tail at the end of the novel where Hardy confounds the reader's expectations by not providing a conventional happy ending. Anne Garland's (final) choice of suitor is determined more by sexual attraction than mutual compatibility (though Hardy, of course, cannot explicitly state this).
The novel is populated with 'stock' characters: there is the miller, the soldier, the sailor, the bounder, the actress. Indeed, play-acting is an important theme; characters dissemble, disguise their true feelings, put on an act.
The Napoleonic wars and the threat of invasion are the background against which the story plays out, though, in keeping with the overall tenor of the novel, it is not a serious threat. The episode where the local men drill could come straight from an episode of the television series `Dad's Army'.
'The Trumpet-Major' is a minor Hardy novel, but minor Hardy is better than many other writers' major novels.
If a Thomas Hardy novel can be characterised by descriptions of landscape and the depiction of its characters within that landscape, then 'The Trumpet-Major' is not a typical Hardy novel.
Hardy adopts a light narrative style with the emphasis on the story of the heroine Anne Garland and her interactions with three suitors, the Loveday brothers (including the eponymous trumpet-major) and Festus Derriman. I found that this story got rather tedious - there were occasions when I felt like telling Anne Garland to "get on with it and make up your mind". The lack of other storylines would have brought some relief from all her dithering, but, unfortunately, there are none.
There is a nice sting in the tail at the end of the novel where Hardy confounds the reader's expectations by not providing a conventional happy ending. Anne Garland's (final) choice of suitor is determined more by sexual attraction than mutual compatibility (though Hardy, of course, cannot explicitly state this).
The novel is populated with 'stock' characters: there is the miller, the soldier, the sailor, the bounder, the actress. Indeed, play-acting is an important theme; characters dissemble, disguise their true feelings, put on an act.
The Napoleonic wars and the threat of invasion are the background against which the story plays out, though, in keeping with the overall tenor of the novel, it is not a serious threat. The episode where the local men drill could come straight from an episode of the television series `Dad's Army'.
'The Trumpet-Major' is a minor Hardy novel, but minor Hardy is better than many other writers' major novels.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
The Trumpet Major Thomas Hardy
This is an historical, romantic novel with a comedy element. It is beautifully written with fantastic descriptions of English country life around the time of the Battle of... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Anne
Worst read ever
Have to agree with Penguin Egg, the interaction between the trio is the most tedious read ever. I did this novel for "O Level", I'm now approaching 50, and it still gives me... Read more
Published on 22 Mar 2009 by B. Coleman
Its still a book by Hardy
This is a simple and pleasant story with some interesting historical detail.
It fails to compete with the likes of Mayor of Casterbridge but it is an early work by one of the... Read more
Published on 21 May 2001
Its place as one of Hardys lesser known novels is justified
The plot is a typical Hardy-eque love triangle/pentagon chronicle involving a dashing Trumpet-Major in the British army in Napoleonic England. Read more
Published on 2 Mar 2001
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