Five top books on the life and work of Thomas Hardy

At the Telegraph Christopher Nicholson recommended five books that illuminate the life and work of Thomas Hardy, including:Hardy’s novels, at their best, are mythic in nature: the stories they tell, from the changing countryside of the 19th century, are both local and universal. The most dreamlike is The Woodlanders (1887) – set in a hamlet deep in the woods, it feels like a fairy tale. A poor