The Small House at Allington (version 2)
Anthony Trollope
Read by Nick Whitley
The Small House at Allington concerns the widowed Mrs.Dale, her daughters Isabella ("Bell") and Lilian ("Lily"), who live in the "Small House", and their suitors. The bachelor Squire of Allington (Christopher Dale), who lives in the Great House, has allocated the Small House, rent free, to his widowed sister-in-law and her daughters.
This is the fifth of the six Chronicles of Barsetshire. As with all of Trollope's novels, this one also contains many sub-plots and numerous minor characters. Plantagenet Palliiser, of Trollope’s Palliiser series of novels makes his first appearance, as he contemplates a dalliance with Griselda Grantly, the now-married Lady Dumbello, daughter of the Archdeacon introduced earlier in the Chronicles of Barsetshire.
Another key sub-plot involves the goings-on at protagonist John Eames' London boarding house where the landlady's worldly and attractive daughter (Miss Amelia Roper) attempts to ensnare Eames into a socially downwardly-mobile marriage, and where Eames' fellow boarder and co-worker gets drawn into a love triangle with the wife of an unhappily married theatrical couple. In these London scenes at the clerks' office and the Roper boarding house, we see Dickensian echoes.
As with so many of Trollope's novels, here Trollope explores issues of emotional and generational power struggles, adultery, temptation, jilting lovers, marriage proposal refusals, and the consequences of indecision. Trollope's scene of the bull attack placed mid-way through the novel is a tour-de-force moment not to be missed by any reader interested in the art of the Victorian novel.
(Edited by N K Whitley from the Wikipedia entry for the novel which - spoiler alert – contains a much more detailed account of the main plot-lines.) (30 hr 23 min)
Chapters
The Squire of Allington | 24:58 | Read by Nick Whitley |
The Two Pearls of Allington | 34:34 | Read by Nick Whitley |
The Widow Dale of Allington | 30:32 | Read by Nick Whitley |
Mrs. Roper's Boarding-House | 30:59 | Read by Nick Whitley |
About L.D. | 23:05 | Read by Nick Whitley |
Beautiful Days | 38:02 | Read by Nick Whitley |
The Beginning of Troubles | 37:19 | Read by Nick Whitley |
It Cannot Be | 21:51 | Read by Nick Whitley |
Mrs. Dale's Little Party | 35:17 | Read by Nick Whitley |
Mrs. Lupex and Amelia Roper | 26:39 | Read by Nick Whitley |
Social Life | 21:09 | Read by Nick Whitley |
Lilian Dale Becomes a Butterfly | 45:51 | Read by Nick Whitley |
A Visit to Guestwick | 31:25 | Read by Nick Whitley |
John Eames Takes a Walk | 21:37 | Read by Nick Whitley |
The Last Day | 37:04 | Read by Nick Whitley |
Mr. Crosbie Meets an Old Clergyman on His Way to Courcy Castle | 19:47 | Read by Nick Whitley |
Courcy Castle | 45:45 | Read by Nick Whitley |
Lily Dale's First Love-Letter | 27:17 | Read by Nick Whitley |
The Squire Makes a Visit to the Small House | 28:26 | Read by Nick Whitley |
Dr. Crofts | 22:56 | Read by Nick Whitley |
John Eames Encounters Two Adventures and Displays Great Courage in Both | 36:15 | Read by Nick Whitley |
Lord De Guest at Home | 24:37 | Read by Nick Whitley |
Mr. Plantaganet Palliser | 54:08 | Read by Nick Whitley |
A Mother-In-Law and a Father-In-Law | 15:20 | Read by Nick Whitley |
Adolphus Crosbie Spends an Evening at His Club | 29:59 | Read by Nick Whitley |
Lord De Courcy in the Bosom of His Family | 26:45 | Read by Nick Whitley |
"On My Honour, I Do Not Understand It" | 32:09 | Read by Nick Whitley |
The Board | 34:09 | Read by Nick Whitley |
John Eames Returns to Burton Crescent | 25:57 | Read by Nick Whitley |
Is It From Him? | 32:46 | Read by Nick Whitley |
The Wounded Fawn | 26:51 | Read by Nick Whitley |
Pawkins's in Jermyn Street | 25:58 | Read by Nick Whitley |
The Time Will Come | 31:26 | Read by Nick Whitley |
The Combat | 22:51 | Read by Nick Whitley |
Vae Victis | 35:14 | Read by Nick Whitley |
"See the Conquering Hero Comes" | 33:17 | Read by Nick Whitley |
An Old Man's Complaint | 21:06 | Read by Nick Whitley |
Doctor Crofts is Called in. | 30:52 | Read by Nick Whitley |
Doctor Crofts is Turned Out | 34:19 | Read by Nick Whitley |
Preparations for the Wedding | 44:18 | Read by Nick Whitley |
Domestic Troubles | 23:52 | Read by Nick Whitley |
Lily's Bedside | 24:48 | Read by Nick Whitley |
Fie Fie | 35:13 | Read by Nick Whitley |
Valentine's Day at Allington | 23:54 | Read by Nick Whitley |
Valentine's Day in London | 37:07 | Read by Nick Whitley |
John Eames at His Office | 34:48 | Read by Nick Whitley |
The New Private Secretary | 25:57 | Read by Nick Whitley |
Nemesis | 34:27 | Read by Nick Whitley |
Preparations for Going | 28:39 | Read by Nick Whitley |
Mrs. Dale is Thankful for a Good Thing | 22:08 | Read by Nick Whitley |
John Eames Does Things Which He Ought Not to Have Done | 39:11 | Read by Nick Whitley |
The First Visit to the Guestwick Bridge | 28:23 | Read by Nick Whitley |
Loquitur Hopkins | 27:23 | Read by Nick Whitley |
The Second Visit to the Guestwick Bridge | 33:54 | Read by Nick Whitley |
Not Very Fie Fie After All | 43:25 | Read by Nick Whitley |
Showing How Mr. Crosbie Became Again a Happy Man | 26:00 | Read by Nick Whitley |
Lilian Dale Vanquishes Her Mother | 26:55 | Read by Nick Whitley |
The Fate of the Small House | 25:19 | Read by Nick Whitley |
John Eames Becomes a Man | 28:19 | Read by Nick Whitley |
Conclusion | 30:34 | Read by Nick Whitley |
Reviews
kismazsola
Nick Whitley is one of the very best. The story is enjoyable, but I haven't found any truly memorable characters, such as Mr. Slope in one of the previous volumes.