Finished: Under the Greenwood Tree (Hardy) I picked this book up in a used book store, and having loved some Thomas Hardy books before, decided to read it....besides, the blurb on the back described it as "Hardy's" sunniest work, lol. ok, so here is the whole blurb:

"Two newcomers settle in the village of Mellstock bringing change and disruption to the rural inhabitants. Mr. Maybold, the vicar, is hot and strong on church business, but his plans to incorporate the new-fangled organ cause offence to the old-fashioned ecclesiastical musicians. Fancy Day, the school teacher, and a flower among vegetables, has an equally upsetting effect upon the hearts of the younger men. Hardy drew on his own childhood experiences to paint this affectionate, unsentimental but often comic, portrait of rustic, society touched by progress."

How could I not read it with a blurb like that? And, with an opening page like this:

"To dwellers in a wood almost every species of tree has its voice as well as its feature. At the passing of the breeze the fir-trees sob and moan no less distinctly than they rock; the holly whistles as it battles with itself; the ash hisses amid its quiverings; the beech rustles while its flat boughs rise and fall. And winter, which modifies the note of such trees as shed their leaves, does not destroy its individuality."

So, we soon find walking among those trees twentyish Dick Dewey who is one of the young men who falls for Miss Fancy Day. There's a bit of flirting, and some jealousy when another suitor or two show themselves, and some hurdles to overcome when her father doesn't think Dick is good enough for Fancy...but basically, amidst lots of descriptive prose like above and lots of "rural lingo" and day to day conversations between various characters, Dick and Fancy declare their love and get married. It's not my favorite Hardy book, but was a nice read...and nice to read the flowery prose of the old masters every so often to remind myself why they were the masters. :-)