I’ve been busy continuing my journey through Anthony Trollope’s long list of books, I’ve just finished reading Rachel Ray which I started to read as Karen @Books and Chocolate is having a bit of a Trollope bicentennial event next month. You can still sign up for it here. I surprised myself by romping through the book much faster than expected, I really liked it but I’ll write about it later, meanwhile I’m thinking about which Trollope to read next, any suggestions?
I’ve just begun to read Bill Bryson’s Notes from a Small Island. He’s in the south of England and so far everything which he is talking about is particularly English, so his observations are much like mine were when we moved down there. Why do English men talk constantly about roads and the best route to take from A to B? It’s a mystery. By coincidence there’s a Bill Bryson interview in Saturday’s Guardian review, you can read it here if you’re interested. A follow up to Notes from a Small Island is being published in the Autumn.
Single novels (the ones in bold are the ones I’ve read so I’ve still got a lot to go.)
The Macdermots of Ballycloran (1847)
The Kellys and the O’Kellys (1848)
La Vendée: An Historical Romance (1850)
The Three Clerks (1858)
The Bertrams (1859)
Castle Richmond (1860)
Orley Farm (1862)
The Struggles of Brown, Jones & Robinson (1862)
Rachel Ray (1863)
Miss Mackenzie (1865)
The Belton Estate (1866)
The Claverings (1867)
Nina Balatka (1867)
Linda Tressel (1868)
He Knew He Was Right (1869)
The Vicar of Bullhampton (1870)
Sir Harry Hotspur of Humblethwaite (1871)
Ralph the Heir (1871)
The Golden Lion of Granpère (1872)
Harry Heathcote of Gangoil (1874)
Lady Anna (1874)
The Way We Live Now (1875)
The American Senator (1877)
Is He Popenjoy? (1878)
John Caldigate (1879)
An Eye for an Eye (1879)
Cousin Henry (1879)
Ayala’s Angel (1881)
Doctor Wortle’s School (1881)
The Fixed Period (1882)
Kept in the Dark (1882)
Marion Fay (1882)
Mr. Scarborough’s Family (1883)
The Landleaguers (1883)
An Old Man’s Love (1884)
Chronicles of Barsetshire
The Warden (1855)
Barchester Towers (1857)
Doctor Thorne (1858)
Framley Parsonage (1861)
The Small House at Allington (1864)
The Last Chronicle of Barset (1867)
Palliser novels
Can You Forgive Her? (1865)
Phineas Finn (1869)
The Eustace Diamonds (1873)
Phineas Redux (1874)
The Prime Minister (1876)
The Duke’s Children (1880)
He really was prolific! One of these days I am going to dip in! I do have a couple of his books on the shelf.
Peggy Ann,
I think you’ll enjoy his books. They’re usually chunksters which can be off putting but I find his writing style is so smooth that I can read his books fairly quickly.
Is He Popenjoy? is one of my favorites of the stand-alone books. and I’ve been reading good things about Lady Anna, so I’ve moved that one up my list.
Lisa,
Thanks, I’ll start Is He Popenjoy next and think about Lady Anna too. I think someone else on the internet recommended Marion Fay too.
Three of my favorites are The Way We Live Now (brilliant!); Ayala’s Angel; and The American Senator. I still have a long list of unread Trollopes myself — five of the Pallisers, plus about a dozen others. I think I may have to create a reader’s poll on my own blog!
Karen K,
I was quite downhearted when I realised how many books he had written and how thick most of them are, but I find his writing so easy to read that it’s never long before I reach the end of them. Thanks, I’ll add your suggestions to my list. A reader’s poll could be helpful!
I think my favourite of your unread Trollope’s is ‘Orley Farm’, but I could make a case for heaps of the others especially ‘The Vicar of Bullhampton’.
Jane Mackay,
Thanks for those recommendations, my list is ever growing. Now I just need the time to read them all.