The Small House at Allington: Introduction by A. O. J. Cockshut (Chronicles of Barsetshire) - Hardcover

Trollope, Anthony

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0375400672 ISBN 13: 9780375400674

Publisher: Everyman's Library, 1997

Synopsis

Written at the height of Trollope's popularity, The Small Hosue at Allington (1864) features his most admired heroine, Lily Dale.

The sisters Lily and Bell Dale, along with their widowed mother, live on the charity of their uncle, the squire of Allington, who has granted them use of a small house on his estate. While Bell falls in love with the local doctor, Lily's romantic path runs less smoothly. Handsome and ambitious Adolphus Crosbie impulsively proposes to her, but then jilts her in favor of a more advantageous alliance with Lady Alexandrina De Courcy. Though brokenhearted, Lily stubbornly believes herself bound to her faithless fiance and feels compelled to reject her more deserving admirer, the devoted clerk John Earnes.

A host of colorful minor characters enliven the story, including the haughty De Courcy family, fussy Sir Raffle Buffle, the blustery Earl De Guest, and the first appearance in print of two of Trollope's most famous recurring characters--the relentless politician Plantagenet Palliser (future Duke of Omnium) and his irrepressible wife, Lady Glencora. In this fifth novel in the Barsetshire series, Trollope displays all the humor, drama, and subtle grasp of character and motive that have, for generations of readers, made his novels a total pleasure to read.

About this title

About the Author

Anthony Trollope (1815-1882) was born in London to a bankrupt barrister father and a mother who, as a well-known writer, supported the family. Trollope enjoyed considerable acclaim both as a novelist and as a senior civil servant in the Post Office. He published more than forty novels and many short stories that are regarded by some as among the greatest of nineteenth-century fiction.

From the Back Cover

Roderick Random was published in 1748 to immediate acclaim, and established Smollett among the most popular of eighteenth-century novelists. Narrated by an unheroic, apparently rudderless hero named Random, Smollett's wildly energetic and entertaining novel is held together not least by the narrator's outrage and dismay. Although Roderick Random was first published anonymously, the secret of Smollett's authorship was soon discovered, with the result that many readers thought they recognized similarities between the life of the hero and that of his creator. Certainly Roderick Random's early years - disinherited and without wealth and influence - and his university career, apprenticeship and service as a naval surgeon, vividly reflect the experiences of the author. How Random learns to survive the fickle hand of fortune, recovers his long-lost father, marries his beloved Narcissa, and dispatches his enemies is the stuff, not of autobiography but of a novel which profoundly satirizes the moral chaos of its times. Dickens and Thackeray, among other great Victorians, applauded Smollett for his wit and invention, and in Roderick Random we enjoy the novel of a pioneer opening up the frontiers of fiction.

Edition details

• Publisher: Everyman's Library
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0375400672
• ISBN 13: 9780375400674
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 776