Anthony Trollope

The Small House at Allington (annotated) Anthony Trollope

The Small House at Allington is the fifth novel in Anthony Trollope's series known as the "Chronicles of Barsetshire", first published in 1864. It concerns the Dale family, who live in the 'Small House', a dower house intended for the widowed mother (Dowager) of the owner of the estate. There are two houses at Allington. The Great House is the residence of Squire Christopher Dale, an unmarried, plain, seemingly dour man whose ancestors were squires at Allington for generations. In the Small House nearby lives his sister-in-law, Mrs. Dale, and her two daughters, Bell and Lily. Mrs. Dale is the widow of the squire's youngest brother, who died young and left his family in modest circumstances. When the squire offered his brother's widow the Small House rent free, she immediately accepted his offer, not so much for her own sake as for that of her daughters. The Dales are not the chief family of the neighborhood. Near the town of Guestwick stands Guestwick Manor, the home of Lord de Guest and his sister, Lady Julia. Although not intimate, the families have a tie by marriage. Years before, another of the squire's brothers, Colonel Orlando Dale, eloped with the earl's sister, Lady Fanny. The colonel did not make a career for himself and now lives with his wife in semiretirement at Torquay. Bernard Dale, their only son and a captain in the Engineers, is the squire's heir. The classic tale of romance and betrayal from a distinguished master of English satire. The fifth novel in the Chronicles of Barsetshire epitomizes the wit, attention to detail, and thoughtful analysis of class and gender issues that made Anthony Trollope one of Victorian England's most beloved novelists. The Small House at Allington moves away from the earlier books' overt ecclesiastical concerns to focus on a small dower house on the edge of Christopher Dale's estate-Dale being the unlikely Squire of Allington. Dale has made the dower house available to his widowed sister-in-law and her daughters, Bell and Lily, and the novel mainly follows the romantic exploits of the sisters. Lily is engaged to the rising Adolphus Crosbie, who is smitten with Lady Alexandrina de Courcy. Meanwhile, John Eames has pined for Lily for years, but the young clerk seems helpless to wrench her away from her duplicitous beau. In trademark Trollope fashion, The Small House at Allington twists through a number of minor characters and subplots before reaching its satisfying conclusion. Trollope's uncanny ability to derive the universal from the specific has kept his work evergreen well into the twenty-first century, with class struggles and romantic miscues just as relatable today as they were one hundred years ago. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.