The Three Clerks

By: Anthony Trollope

Narrated by: Nigel Patterson

Length: 22 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

"Easy, very easy, is the slope of hell!"

Bound together by dreams of success, three clerks Harry Norman, Alaric Tudor, and Charley Tudor navigate the ranks of the Civil Service, each of them drawn into a web of temptation and moral dilemmas.

Harry finds himself entangled in a complex love triangle that threatens to shatter his dreams. Will charming and ambitious Alaric succumb to the seductive allure of power–or choose a path steeped in honor? And in the character of Charley, Anthony Trollope draws the picture of his own early days in London as "that most hopeless of human beings, a hobbledehoy of 19, without any idea of a career, or a profession, or a trade."

With his head in the clouds and a heart yearning for romance, Charley must navigate the harsh realities of the world while remaining true to his artistic ambition.

"Oh the City, the weary City, where men go daily to look for money, but find none."

©1857 Anthony Trollope (P)2023 Nigel Patterson

The three clerks

Very 'Ye olde timey' book.Interesting story,but it did get tedious.Nigel Patterson was a terrific narrator.I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

I Wish It Were Longer

I’ve read more than 20 Trollope novels and this is one of my favorites. Like the best of them, it’s very meta— the author is constantly stopping the story to give us his thoughts on various aspects of his narrative or his characters or other matters, at one point creating a long compare-and-contrast with one of Dickens’ characters. Also as usual, it’s full of love stories and full of humor. I loved it. (Don’t be fooled by the first few chapters which give the impression it’s going to be a novel about office work.) The narration is perfection.

Trollope Never Fails

To provide an engaging story populated by characters you learn to loathe or love, seasoned throughout with acute observations on what we humans are really like. Even though this is only his second published work (1858) when he was a mere 32 years old.

I say "learn to loathe or love" because, unlike Dickens, where the sinners and saints are sinners or saints right from the kickoff, Trollope's emerge before your eyes -- much as they do in real life. And, often, an erstwhile sinner will surprise you and turn up on the right side of the moral ledger. It's one of the things that keeps me listening.

Granted, Nigel Patterson is not Timothy West. But he is Nigel Patterson, and that's quite enough to make this one an enjoyable listen.