Doctor Thorne

By: Anthony Trollope

Narrated by: Timothy West

Length: 20 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

Exclusively from Audible

Doctor Thorne is the third audiobook in Anthony Trollope's series known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire. Long regarded as one of Trollope's greatest works, it is a complex story of love, greed and illegitimacy. Set in fictional Barsetshire, it concerns the romantic challenges facing Doctor Thorne's penniless niece, Mary, and Frank Gresham, the only son of the impoverished squire of Greshambury. Mary falls in love with Frank but he is constrained by the need to marry well to restore the family fortunes and Greshambury estate. Despite the promptings of his family to consider a Miss Dunstable, heiress to a fortune, Frank's affections persist, and the humane Doctor Thorne, as Mary's protector, must confront the prejudices of the mid-Victorian society.

Timothy West's narration enhances all the wit and satire that one expects from Trollope. Full of snobbery and hypocrisy, it is a social comedy full of some of Trollope's most brilliant characters.

Narrator Biography

Timothy West is prolific in film, television, theatre and audiobooks. He has narrated a number of Anthony Trollope’s classics, including the six Chronicles of Barsetshire and The Pallisers series. He has also narrated volumes of Simon Schama’s A History of Britain and John Mortimer’s Rumpole on Trial. Timothy West’s theatre roles include King Lear, The Vote, Uncle Vanya, A Number, Quarter, and Coriolanus. His films include Ever After, Joan Of Arc, Endgame, Iris, The Day of the Jackal. On television, Timothy has appeared in Great Canal Journeys, Last Tango in Halifax and Bleak House.

Public Domain (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

" Doctor Thorne is engaging, witty, profoundly moving, and full of emotional strands that seem as relevant today as when it was written. I love it." (Julian Fellowes)

Superb narration by Timothy West of a wonderful novel

I was sad to reach the end of Dr Thorne. The characters were so realistic and Trollope so understanding of them even the unpleasant ones .

Such a completely satisfying read!

Oh, how I love Trollope! Always a masterclass in great writing. Always a delight. Thank God he is such a prolific writer. Cannot get enough. I always want to give him a standing ovation when I finish one of his books.

Another reason to love English novels!

This was a great story and very well narrated. I enjoyed this very much. Highly recommend this book.

Sadly Predictable

Having listened to the previous novel in the series, Barchester Towers, which had me chuckling to myself, I raced to download Dr Thorne. Unfortunately Trollope lets the cat out of the bag with the plot towards the very beginning and its a long listen to the end waiting to see if there is a twist.

There is the usual observational wit and cutting sarcasm this time aimed at the landed gentry but it sort of misfired. The Countess was a insufferable snob, Lady Arabella an even bigger snob and the Squire completely ineffectual - all stereotypes which we can all recognise and have seen in many a bonnet drama.

Timothy West was a delight and in this novel kept me listening to the end, without his outstanding performance I don't know if I would have kept going.

In a series there are the gems and there are the weak links - I hope that the next novel is an improvement on this one or it might be time to go and listen to the Palliser series - I'm not giving up on Trollope yet ... and nor should you!

Enchanting Story After Chapter Three

Hang in there. Once you wade through three chapters of setting up the all-new characters from the first two books in the series, the story takes off and is very nice. I plan to continue the series. Narration is top-notch!

Wonderful!

This is a wonderful Trollope novel and a great listen for a newcomer to the writer. Weston is a super narrator, and Trollope's characters are unforgetable.

English Aristocracy with a heart.

This was a heart warming portrayal of Aristocratic England's struggle with the will of young hearts to determine their own destiny.

Great reading

Timothy West’s reading lacks nothing. Really nicely done. Good story, witty and humorous writing. I consider this novel a good find, and am now a fan of the reader as well.

beautiful, balanced telling of a tale

Family, class and love in time of change in English society. writing of the most subtle and exquisite candor of the age.

As satisfying. almost, as a Dickens novel,.

At first, it moved slowly, but I kept coming back. I had finished all of Dickens" novels , and I could not bear the long dissection of some irrelevant to me, news broadcast!!** Bitcoin, for heaven's sake!!! And the reader of Anthony Trollope was especially easy to listen to for hours. What peace those hours of story brought me! It isn' Dickkens, but it is good for being set similarly, so one settles in, knowing there are many more works to hear, from Trollope's famed Barcetshire. Did you know his mother was a writer whose earnings saved his father from bankruptcy and poverty!!!** Way, way before women got the vote in America!!!