Fellow-burgesses Barnet and Downe are old and good friends in the Wessex town of Port Bredy – yet fate has treated them differently. Barnet, a prosperous man, has been unlucky in love, and now lives with the consequences of a judicious but loveless marriage. Downe, a poor solicitor, is radiantly happy in his small family home, surrounded by his doting wife and adoring children. A chance meeting one night causes them to reflect on their different lots in life, and sets in motion a train of events that will change their lives for ever. As he chronicles the cruel twists and turns of human fate, Hardy offers a compassionate portrayal of the trials of the human heart.
Both a meticulous record of English provincial customs, and a melancholic reflection on the brevity of human happiness, this short work captures in miniature all the philosophy, artistry and overriding concerns of Hardy’s major fiction.