On a drunken impulse, Henchard sells his wife and baby daughter at a country fair, an outrageous act for which he suffer an agonizing remorse. Years later, when he has become a respected and prosperous man, his wife and daughter seek him out in Casterbridge. He attempts to right the long-ago wrong and sets in motion a series of events that spell his destruction.

An adventure story about an honest young boy, Tolly Pickering, forced on the run with a villainous ruffian named Black Jack. As the two enter a world of body-snatchers, private lunatic asylums, and travelling fairs, they find friendship in the most unlikely places.