The Small House at Allington

First published serially in 1862 and as a novel in 1864, “The Small House at Allington” is the fifth novel of Anthony Trollope’s “Chronicles of Barsetshire” series. This installment in the series primarily relates the story of Lily Dale, a young woman living in the dower house of the Allington estate with her mother and sister, Bell. Although Lily is secretly loved by a humble junior clerk in a tax office, John Eames, she becomes enamored with Adolphus Crosbie, an ambitious and egocentric man from a more urban environment. When Crosbie’s vanity and fickle behavior leaves Lily heartbroken, she must decide if she will accept the honest courtship of Eames, or if she will opt for the protected and solitary life of spinsterhood. Bell too must choose between the wealthy heir to the estate and the modest country doctor she has loved since childhood. In addition to the struggles of Lily and Bell, widely regarded as two of Trollope’s most well-liked heroines, the novel is full of a host of other interesting characters who enhance the realness of the narrative and its masterful portrayal of the inner lives of men and women and the complexities of their relationships. This edition includes a biographical afterword.