The Way We Live Now cover art

The Way We Live Now

Preview

The Way We Live Now

By: Anthony Trollope
Narrated by: Timothy West
Listen for free

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

Exclusively from Audible

In this world of bribes, vendettas, and swindling, in which heiresses are gambled and won, Trollope's characters embody all the vices: Lady Carbury is 'false from head to foot'; her son Felix has 'the instincts of a horse, not approaching the higher sympathies of a dog'; and Melmotte - the colossal figure who dominates the book - is a 'horrid, big, rich scoundrel...a bloated swindler...a vile city ruffian'. But as vile as he is, he is considered one of Trollope's greatest creations.

Trollope's highly regarded satire is about the dishonest and villainous financier, Augustus Melmotte, who captivates and buys his way into the corrupt aristocratic society of London, throwing it into turmoil.

Described by The Guardian as 'the darkest of Trollope's 47 novels' it is also the longest with gloriously rich subplots. Inspired by the financial scandals of the 1870s, the novel is a dramatization of how greed and dishonesty permeated life during that era.

The Way We Live Now has become recognised as Trollope's masterpiece and was featured at Number 22 in The Guardian's 100 best novels.

Narrator Biography

Timothy West is prolific in film, television, theatre, and audiobooks. He has narrated a number of Anthony Trollope's classic audiobooks, including the six Chronicles of Barsetshire and The Pallisers series. He has also narrated volumes of Simon Schama's A History of Britain and John Mortimer's Rumpole on Trial.

Timothy West's theatrical credits include King Lear, The Vote, Uncle Vanya, A Number, Quarter, and Coriolanus and his films include Ever After, Joan Of Arc, Endgame, Iris, and The Day of the Jackal. On television, Timothy has appeared in Broken Biscuits (BBC), Great Canal Journeys (across 3 Series), and the regular role of Stan Carter on EastEnders (BBC).

Public Domain (P)2014 Audible, Inc.
Classics Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Witty Fiction Funny Thought-Provoking

Listeners also enjoyed...

Can You Forgive Her? cover art
The Kellys and the O'Kellys cover art
The Warden - Chronicles of Barsetshire, Book 1 cover art
Middlemarch cover art
Is He Popenjoy? cover art
He Knew He Was Right cover art
The Complete Barchester Chronicles cover art
The Three Clerks cover art
Dr Wortle's School cover art
The American Senator cover art
The Claverings cover art
Sir Harry Hotspur of Humblethwaite cover art
Buddenbrooks cover art
A Town Like Alice cover art
The Barchester Chronicles cover art
Don Quixote cover art

Critic reviews

"A tale of financial skulduggery reminiscent of recent city scandals." ( Daily Telegraph)
All stars
Most relevant
I am very fond of Trollope's works but hadn't read "The Way We Live Now" before purchasing this audiobook. It has been so difficult to switch it off and I have been held captive throughout. I know the book has its detractors but I found it full of wisdom and compassion. It is not just of historical interest but says a lot about how we live now in the 21st century. The mistakes in the original text have been retained but it's quite fun to spot them as the reading goes on. Timothy West is masterful as always and does full justice to a wonderful novel.

A book for the 21st Century

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Timothy West reads this extremely well, as I would have expected. The various voices are well-characterised and clear.

It's a very long novel but Trollope's writing is so entertaining that it doesn't drag. It could have done because he was, to my mind, spinning it out just a bit but my interest never flagged. Trollope does tend to deal in this book with one story line for long stretches and then retrace his steps to go back to what was happening a few weeks before to other characters so he has to do a bit of a recap every now and then.

It's very witty in places and West brings out Trollope's wry humour at the expense of some of his characters well. Very few escape his wit.

There are some splendidly vile characters here notably Melmotte (who only just stays the right side of pantomime villain) and Sir Felix Carbury who is a hopeless case. There only seem to be three really good people amongst the main characters, Hetta Carbury, Roger Carbury and Marie Melmotte and I must admit Marie is for me the real heroine of the piece. I was cheering for her from quite early on. I also have a soft spot for Mrs Hurtle who is a rather modern American lady with a surprising moral code.

It's a good listen.



Entertaining

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

it seems a truth universally acknowledged on Audible that Timothy West ought to be knighted for his services to Trollope.

I particually loved his Lord Nidderdale- but it's just as well Marie Melmotte never meets Mme Max Goesler from the Pallisers as it seems they have to share, more or less, the same 'female of indeterminate European origin' voice between them.

Marie was rather the weak spot in the story for me- I thought Trollope treated her rather harshly in the end and should have picked out a better husband for her.

Not Palliser, nor in Barsetshire but still perfect

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

It’s such a long book but thoroughly enjoyable in the description of Georgian life, snobbery, social acceptance, status and the frivolous lifestyles allowed to young titled males.
Beautiful, made me smile & chuckle throughout. And the different voices of the narrator were equally well done.

Delicious phrases in descriptions and conversation!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This is a Fantastic novel, Timothy West is a one man master class in narration. Highly recommended.

Brilliant

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews