English novelist and poet Thomas Hardy was highly critical of much in Victorian society, especially on the declining status of rural people in Britain. Considered a Victorian realist, Hardy examines the social constraints on the lives of those living in Victorian England. Also, Hardy wrote a number of significant war poems that relate to both the Boer Wars and World War I, including "Drummer Hodge", "In Time of 'The Breaking of Nations'", and "The Man He Killed"; his work had a profound influence on other war poets such as Rupert Brooke and Siegfried Sassoon. Many of his novels concern tragic characters struggling against their passions and social circumstances, and they are often set in the semi-fictional region of Wessex. Interlopers at the Knap is a part of the Wessex Tales, this brilliant work is engrossing and captivating! This short tale revolves around Farmer Darton's dilemma of whether to marry Sally Hall or his first love, Helena, who dramatically turns up at the Knap in Kings-Hintock village with her dying brother, Philip Hall, and their two small children just when Darton arrives intending to marry Sally. As a sub-plot, Darton's best friend, Japheth Johns, who was to have been his best man, scolds him for scorning Sally and they part ways. In this brilliant short-story, Thomas Hardy presents a well-knitted plot and comprehensively drawn characters. Enjoy free online English audiobook “Interlopers at the Knap” by Thomas Hardy.
