Wow this took almost two weeks to read. If this book had just been the first half, would’ve taken me two days. The plot was akin to the mail train that its characters enjoyed traveling on, if that train slipped on ice and were literally derailed multiple times on one journey. This is Thomas Hardy book 11/13 (have yet to read Laodicean and Well-Beloved) but I think I’m gonna need a break from him for a little bit (that is, until I reread Tess of the D’Urbervilles again)