The Trumpet-Major
About this audiobook
Set against the larger-than-life backdrop of the Napoleonic wars, Hardy’s only historical novel tells of the loves and sorrows of ordinary people caught in extraordinary times.
When an anticipated invasion brings several regiments to her small rural community, young country maid Anne Garland is courted by three men in uniform: the loyal trumpet-major John Loveday, his sailor-brother Bob, and cowardly Festus Derriman of the yeomanry cavalry.
Founded largely on testimony from elders known to Hardy in his childhood, The Trumpet-Major offers a complex weave of historical fact and fiction that explores the subversive effects of ordinary human desires on systematized versions of history.
Ratings and reviews
About the author
Thomas Hardy (1840–1928), English poet, dramatist, and novelist, was born on the Egdon Heath in Dorset. He studied in Dorchester and apprenticed to an architect before leaving for London, where he began to write. Unable to find a public for his poetry, which idealized the rural life, he turned to the novel and met with success as well as controversy. The strong public reaction against some of his darker themes turned him back to writing verse. Today several of his novels are considered masterpieces of tragedy.
Simon Vance is an award-winning actor and an AudioFile Golden Voice with over fifty Earphones Awards and thirteen prestigious Audie Awards. He was named Booklist’s very first Voice of Choice in 2008 and an AudioFile Best Voice of 2009.
