Doctor Thorne by ANTHONY TROLLOPE (Cover to Cover, read by Timothy West)

This is the third volume of Trollope’s much-loved Barsetshire Chronicles, following The Warden and Barchester Towers.



The son of a bankrupt landowner, Frank Gresham is intent on marrying his beloved Mary Thorne, despite her illegitimacy and apparent poverty. Frank's ambitious mother and haughty aunt are set against the match, however, and push him to save the family's mortgaged estate by making a good marriage to a wealthy heiress. Only Mary's loving uncle, Dr Thorne, knows the secret of her birth and the fortune she is to inherit that will make her socially acceptable in the eyes of Frank's family - but the high-principled doctor believes she should be accepted on her own terms.



A telling examination of the relationship between society, money and morality, Dr Thorne (1858) is enduringly popular for Trollope's affectionate depiction of rural English life and his deceptively simple portrayal of human nature.



Listener reviews:



“What a pleasure! This reading is every bit as wonderful as I remembered - far superior to the two other unabridged Barsetshire versions I am aware of. Please, please can we have the rest? Timothy West does everyone from the slimy Slope to the shirty Archdeacon with enormous humour and understanding but without falling into parody (which soon becomes tedious). I remember vividly how he did the babytalk in the main chronicle, Barchester Towers - completely convincing, somehow very feminine, very delightful and silly - can't wait to hear it again. And Lily Dale, and a host of other characters. What a genius the man is, worthy of Trollope himself! Bring him on....”



“I know this reading from audiocassettes and it is superb. It would be wonderful to have all the Timothy West readings of Trollope available - the complete Barchester and the complete Palliser chronicles. He is a marvellous reader and manages to give a distinct personality to every character who speaks. Please let's have the complete set.”



Unabridged narration 21 hrs



Ripped from cassettes at 22khz 32kbps (mono)