Doctor Thorne

by Anthony Trollope Narrated by LibriVox Community

Overview

Doctor Thorne is the third of Trollope's Barsetshire novels, and unlike some of the others, has little to do with the politics and personalities of the Church of England, or politics on the national level (though there is lots of politicking in the mythical county of Barsetshire itself). The plot revolves around the illegitimate Mary Thorne, who has been lovingly raised by her uncle, a country doctor, and who, as she comes of age, finds herself wondering whether she is a lady (in the county sense of the term). Frank Gresham, son of the squire of Greshamsbury, is in love with her (much against the wishes of his noble de Courcy relatives at the Castle), but she dismisses his affection at first as mere puppy love, thereby setting the scene for a series of entanglements, social, romantic, and of course, financial and propertied (never far from the action in Trollope's works). Their resolution, of course, makes up the meat of the novel. One critic has remarked that in Doctor Thorne Trollope succeeds in one of the most difficult tasks an author of fiction can face: how to make genuinely good people genuinely interesting, so that they engage not only the sympathies but also the interest of readers. (Introduction by Nicholas Clifford)

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"Literary wizardry and hilarious digs . . . Entertaining twists, flirtations, jiltigs, broken hearts . . . Wicked!" —Val Hennessy, Daily Mail


"Doctor Thorne has the best plot - seduction, murder, families ruined by drink and debt - and, in the eponymous doctor, the most sympathetic and human of all Trollope's heroes." —Guardian


"One would be hard put to name a more enjoyable Victorian novelist than Anthony Trollope." —Washington Post


"Why did Freud bother? This is so much better, and truer." —Daily Telegraph


"There is wonderful comedy in Doctor Thorne . . . The book is a testament to Trollope’s belief in decency as a guide to living, and I think we are made all the better for it." —Julian Fellowes, Radio Times

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170254064
Publisher:	LibriVox
Publication date:	08/25/2014
Sales rank:	1,273,217

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