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The Small House at Allington

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The Small House at Allington

By: Anthony Trollope
Narrated by: Simon Vance
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TheSmall House at Allingtonintroduces Trollope's most beloved heroine, the charming Lily Dale, to the Barsetshire scene. Lily is the niece of Squire Dale, an embittered old bachelor living in the main house on his property at Allington. He has loaned an adjacent small house rent-free to his widowed sister-in-law and her daughters, Lily and Bell. But the relations between the two houses are strained, affecting the romantic entanglements of the girls.

Lily has long been unsuccessfully wooed by John Eames, a junior clerk at the income tax office. The handsome and personable Adolphus Crosbie looks like an enticing alternative; but Adolphus has his eye on the rigid Lady Alexandrina de Courcy, whose family is in a position to further his career. Bell, meanwhile, must choose between the local doctor, James Crofts, and her wealthy cousin, Bernard.

(P)2007 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Classics Fantasy Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Literary Fiction Romance
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Critic reviews

“The Small House at Allington, was good: I should say it is the most underrated of Trollope’s novels, in that it contains one of his more credible female creations, Lily Dale.”

(Telegraph (London))

“Mr. Trollope has achieved another great success...He sees a section of English life, and paints it with unerring truth, tact, and, liveliness.“

(Saturday Review, 1864)

“Lilly Dale is one of the most charming creations that ever author devised.”

(Illustrated London News, 1864)

“Mr. Trollope has written nothing more true or entertaining than this admirable representation of our modern social world...these are the themes which Mr. Trollope embodies for us in pictures of wonderful skill, fidelity, and, humour.”

(Spectator, 1864)
All stars
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An excellent narration for this charming story. Evoked the characters and action beautifully and I was sorry when it finished. As usual Trollope’s minute observation of human nature and motivations makes this a story into which you can fall absolutely.

Superb

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A favourite Trollope book which was made even better if that's possible by the excellent narration

Excellent story and narration

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Another reviewer complains about the voice of the reader. Generally I did not find it intrusive, although I felt that his attempts to distinguish the voices of the women were somewhat overdone.
I have never managed to get beyone the first few chapters when reading Trollope and enjoyed being able to go through the whole book.
It may be better to start earlier in the chronicles as there was a sub-plot that was completely divorced from the rest of the story and presumably links in elsewhere. In addition it became apparent that the story does not end here, so the listener does have to be prepared to commit the time to another book.
Trollope's asides to the reader may take up considerable time in listening and would, I think, be edited out these days, but are quite fascinating.

worth listening too

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I have been listening to Simon Vance's eccentricities with Trollope only for the want of an alternative - 1950's accents, completely wrong accents for some characters and frequently a perversity against the text. Please get us Timothy West!

Oh for a better reading

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