Books by Anthony Trollope
“The Eustace Diamonds…is a great one to start off with, because, again, it’s one of those wonderful heroines, Lizzie Eustace. She is a wealthy widow and she wants to keep this valuable family necklace—the Eustace Diamonds—and insists that her husband gave it to her. The family are furious. They want it back because it’s an heirloom.” Read more...
The Best Anthony Trollope Books
Francesca Simon, Children's Author
“Miss Mackenzie is an old maid of 35. Poor Miss Mackenzie! She’s spent her previous years looking after ailing relatives—her father and her brother—and she gets left all this money. And she decides, ‘I want to live!’ So she goes to Bath with the intention of living and she eventually has three suitors. Trollope describes her as a thin and straggling old maid, but she’s grown into her looks a bit. Again, it’s about what she can hope for now, because she’s got money. Who’s an appropriate match?” Read more...
The Best Anthony Trollope Books
Francesca Simon, Children's Author
“The plot of The American Senator is about one of my favourite Trollope characters, Arabella Trefoil. Apparently, Edith Wharton based The House of Mirth’s Lily Bart on her. Arabella Trefoil is the impecunious niece of a duke and has been on the marriage market for 12 years. She’s been struggling to find someone appropriate. She’s tied to her mother who she hates. They’re always going to stay with people and way outstaying their welcome because they have no money. It’s just dreadful.” Read more...
The Best Anthony Trollope Books
Francesca Simon, Children's Author
“Other writers have tried to capture the world of high finance, and failed, because finance is abstract and complicated. Trollope succeeded because his real interest was in bringing to life the way that money could change human character. There’s nothing abstract or complicated about greed, vanity and weakness.” Read more...
The best books on Financial Speculation
John Gapper, Journalist
The West Indies and the Spanish Main
by Anthony Trollope
It is a vivid portrait of a lot of different places – Cuba, Jamaica, Trinidad, Nicaragua – and he had a great ability to describe people
Barchester Towers
by Anthony Trollope
The audiobook of Barchester Towers is performed by the British actor, Timothy West.
Listening time: 19 hours.
“The Warden is interesting because, again, you don’t get that many books…that have an old man as the protagonist.” Read more...
Kathleen Taylor, Science Writer
Interviews where books by Anthony Trollope were recommended
The best books on Ageing, recommended by Kathleen Taylor
Old age. We all hope to reach it, but there are big differences between a ‘good’ old age and one beset by dementia or Alzheimer’s. Neuroscientist and science writer, Kathleen Taylor, talks us through the latest science on ageing and the literary works that can give us a clearer picture of what it’s all about.
The best books on Editing Newspapers, recommended by Peter Stothard
The Editor of The Times Literary Supplement discusses the changing history of the Newspaper Editor. Suggests further reading and highlights Peter Forster’s The Spike as the most accurate depiction of an editor’s work.
The Best Anthony Trollope Books, recommended by Francesca Simon
Anthony Trollope compared being a writer to being a cobbler and wrote highly readable novels that nonetheless exposed all our human foibles. Bestselling children’s author and Trollope enthusiast Francesca Simon explains her fascination with Anthony Trollope and recommends some of her favourite books by the Victorian novelist.
The Best Victorian Novels, recommended by John Sutherland
The Victorian era was a golden age for fiction, says Victorian literature specialist John Sutherland, Emeritus Lord Northcliffe Professor of Modern English Literature at University College London. He talks us through the some of the best novels written during the Victorian period, and what they reveal about the people who wrote them.
The Best Travel Books, recommended by Paul Theroux
Travel is a leap in the dark, says Paul Theroux and one that will leave you a different person at the other end. He recommends five travel books that inspired him, from Mark Twain at sea to VS Naipaul in India
Great Actors Read Great Novels
If you enjoy listening to books as audiobooks, it’s a great time to be alive. From Rosamund Pike narrating Pride and Prejudice, Jeremy Irons reading Lolita to Meryl Streep telling the story of Heartburn, many prominent actors have signed up for performing their favourite books in unabridged versions.
The best books on Financial Speculation, recommended by John Gapper
We all have a bit of the rogue trader in us. So says the chief business commentator of the FT, who tells us about the greed, vanity and weakness that can lead to financial disaster. He picks the best books on financial speculation.
