There are many reasons I have read one book or another, and with this one it was for no better reason than that I liked the title. It had stuck in my head for some reason, and so I had no other option than to read the book.

How can you not like a book where the main female in the role is named like an exotic goddess, Bathsheba Everdene. Certainly, the male characters in the book find her irresistible and this is the centre of a beautiful tale set in the English countryside. I have recommended it to others, my sister who really enjoyed it and my partner at the time who bought her own copy after I thwarted her attempts at keeping mine :)

When I finally finished this book it left me feeling good, I actually felt like I had spent some carefree time in the English countryside, far from the madding crowd.