This updated authoritative edition of the classic Hardy novel, which was published anonymously and first attributed to George Eliot, is set from Hardy's revised, unedited final draft of 1912 and features a new Introduction and Afterword. There is in England no more real or typical district than Thomas Hardy's imaginary Wessex, the scattered fields and farms of which were first discovered in Far from the Madding Crowd. It is here that Gabriel Oak observes...

John Bergson, a Swedish farmer, struggles desperately with the soil but dies unsatisfied. His daughter Alexandra resolves to vindicate his faith, and her strong character carries her weak older brothers and her mother along to a new zest for life. Years of privation are rewarded on the farm. But when Alexandra falls in love with Carl Linstrum, and her family objects because he is poor, he leaves to seek a different career. After Alexandra's younger...

"Can her dreams for the future--and a budding romance--survive the trouble that comes calling? Larkspur Nielsen is determined to keep her family homestead running and to fulfill their dream of starting a seed catalog, with or without her siblings' help. With Isaac McTavish back in town, Lark finds herself at odds with her own heart and her determination to shoulder the burden of carrying her responsibilities alone. But Isaac is set on convincing...

When one of the chefs who planned on opening a new restaurant in Granford that would use locally-grown foods is murdered, orchard-owner Meg Corey steps in to investigate and digs up some secrets that place her own life in danger.

"All she wanted to do was live her life in peace—maybe get a cat, expand the family spice farm. Really, anything that didn’t involve going on an adventure where an orc might rip her face off. But they say the goddess has favorites, and if so, Cin is clearly not one of them. After Cin saves the demon Fallon in a wine-drunk stupor, Fallon reveals that all he really wants to do is kill an evil witch enslaving his people. And who can blame him? But...

With females as one of the fastest growing sectors of the hobby-farming community, the time is right for practical advice and guidance from women to women. Written by naturalist, gardener, and farmer-in-training Karne Lanier, this insightful volume provides inspiration and direction for fellow females with agricultural aspirations. The Woman Hobby Farmer packs a lot of wisdom and experience into its pages, featuring interviews with and answers from...

"Talk of impending war is a steady drumbeat throughout North Carolina, though Joetta McBride pays it little heed. She and her husband, Ennis, have built a modest but happy life for themselves, raising two sons, fifteen-year-old Henry, and eleven-year-old Robert, on their small subsistence farm. They do not support the Confederacy's position on slavery, but Joetta considers her family to be neutral, believing this is simply not their fight. Her opinion...

Inheriting a practically derelict sheep ranch in Montana wouldn't be considered a windfall for most people. But for Harriet Allistair, it was perfect.

It's Halloween in Buttercup, Texas, and reporter-turned-farmer Lucy Resnick is up to her ears in more than goats and wayward cows when exotic game ranch owner Bug Wharton turns up dead by a fatal dose of bee venom. When local witch and mead winery owner Seraphine Alexandre becomes the prime suspect, Lucy gets involved ... and soon discovers that all kinds of things are brewing in Buttercup, and some of them are deadly.

Its been a hot, dry spring in Westbury, Massachusetts. As organic farmer Cam Flaherty waits for much-needed rain, storm clouds of mystery begin to gather . . . May has been anything but merry for Cam so far. Her parents have arrived unexpectedly and her crops are in danger. But all of thats nothing compared to the grim murder of her neighbor, Nicole Kingsbury, the once proud owner of the towns new hydroponic greenhousejust after Cams mother publicly...