The Claverings

By: Anthony Trollope

Narrated by: Nigel Patterson

Length: 20 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's Summary

At the opening of The Claverings (1866) the beautiful Julia Brabazon jilts her lover Harry Clavering in order to make a marriage of convenience with a wealthy but dissolute earl. Harry licks his wounds, leaves London to train as a civil engineer, and falls in love with his employer's daughter, to whom he soon becomes engaged. But when Julia returns unexpectedly as a wealthy widow, the flame of Harry's old love is rekindled.   

In his depiction of this quintessential love triangle, Anthony Trollope digs deep into the psychological make-up of a wonderful array of flawed characters: emotionally strong, determined women whose only prospects depend on making an advantageous marriage; a weak-willed, vacillating anti-hero who in a moment of weakness makes an impossible promise; and a memorable cast of secondary characters, from a suspected Russian spy and a feckless gambler to a zealous evangelical clergyman.

Public Domain (P)2018 Nigel Patterson

A classic love triangle in a classic novel...:)

I like old literature, the so-called classics:), but as I'm Polish I'm not as well acquainted with English/American writers as I would like to be (I mostly know the authors that were on my reading list at school - and that was like ages ago:)) - and so it happens that I've never before read anything by Anthony Trollope... So I'm glad I'd finally decided to try him out because it turned out to be a really nice experience.

It's a story of a typical love triangle of a man, his former and present love interests and his entanglement with his own feelings... in a word, a plot found in so many romance books that at first glance you might think enough is enough. But - as it's a classic - the story has so many layers that it keeps your interest and you go on listening/reading with pleasure. All the characters in the book feel true, some of them are really likeable, some become unbearable when you get to know them better, some turn out to be better, some worse than they seemed when we first met them... Just like in real life - they are all full of surprises. Also, the world described is so detailed, so rich that you feel submerged in the Victorian era with all its mannerisms, customs, and language. The language - that's what really makes the book so different from modern chick lit and romances (or any other genres, in fact). Nobody writes like old authors any more. The language of modern books is like modern life - rushed, fast, with short sentences, minimalistic descriptions only hinting on some details in world building.... and it's not bad, generally, but sometimes I lack that 'slowness' (for the lack of a better word) of the books of old. Trollope's langauge is like that - long, complex sentences, elaborate descriptions both of people and places, but also of the inner thoughts and motivations of the characters... That is the beauty of old books, of the 'classics' - they are not in a hurry, they don't count the pages, they don't rush the reader, just allow them to dwelve into the story and immerse themselves completely in the world of the book... But that's also what makes the books more difficult to read, especially for younger readers (the TV generations, you know:)). For me, it's definitely an advantage:)

As for the narration - it's very good. I like Mr Patterson's voice, the way he reads the narrative parts, the male voices. The only thing that may bother you is the fact that some of the female voices sound a bit strange, and in some of the dialogues it's at first difficult to follow who is speaking. That's why I deducted 1 star from my rating. But he's definitely a narrator worth coming back to.

DISCLAIMER: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Trollope Fans Add a Star To My Ratings

I was given this audiobook for free at my request in exchange for an unbiased review.

I chose this title because I like Victorian novels and had never read one by this famous author. But I found the book overly written and overly plotted, although I did enjoy sections of it very much. With judicious editing, this could have been a really good book.

The narrator has a lovely voice. His diction is clear and his tone is easy-listening mid-range. My only quibble is that sometimes, not always, it was hard to distinguish one character's voice from another in a conversation. But I soon found that the same topics were discussed in continuous regroupings of the characters. There are many characters and many conversations, as well as letters, and conversations about the letters. So if I just kept listening, my confusion got sorted out.

I probably won't choose another Trollope novel, but wouldn't shun this narrator. I liked listening to his voice.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful