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    Dr Thorne
    Dr Thorne
    Dr Thorne
    Audiobook22 hours

    Dr Thorne

    Written by Anthony Trollope

    Narrated by David Shaw-Parker

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    About this audiobook

    Dr Thorne, the third novel in Anthony Trollope’s Chronicles of Barsetshire, sees the author steer away from the church politics of the first two novels and move towards the scandals and prejudice of the upper tiers of Victorian era aristocracies.

    It tells the tale of Frank Gresham and Mary Thorne, a couple intent on marriage despite their conflicting social backgrounds. Frank is engaged in a fierce battle with his family as his mother vehemently opposes the marriage and pushes him to marry a wealthy heiress; however, Frank shuns her attempts as he is determined to accept Mary on her own terms.

    Trollope’s classic, trademark prose shines in Dr Thorne: always solicitous, gentle and kind to his readers, the author peppers his narrative with wonderfully witty observations that will leave you smiling.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherNaxos Audiobooks
    Release dateJun 1, 2014
    ISBN9781843797906
    Author

    Anthony Trollope

    Anthony Trollope (1815-1882) was the third son of a barrister, who ruined his family by giving up the law for farming, and an industrious mother. After attending Winchester and Harrow, Trollope scraped into the General Post Office, London, in 1834, where he worked for seven years. In 1841 he was transferred to Ireland as a surveyor's clerk, and in 1844 married and settled at Clonmel. His first two novels were devoted to Irish life; his third, La Vendée, was historical. All were failures. After a distinguished career in the GPO, for which he invented the pillar box and travelled extensively abroad, Trollope resigned in 1867, earning his living from writing instead. He led an extensive social life, from which he drew material for his many social and political novels. The idea for The Warden (1855), the first of the six Barsetshire novels, came from a visit to Salisbury Close; with it came the characters whose fortunes were explored through the succeeding volumes, of which Doctor Thorne is the third.

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    Reviews for Dr Thorne

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    • 5/5
      Frank loves Mary. Mary loves Frank. Frank's father is broke and aristocratic. Frank needs to marry money, and lots of it. Mary is broke and illegitimate. Frank's mother refuses to have Mary in the house. Mary's uncle is rich and dying and holds the mortgage on Frank's father's estate. But no-one knows that he is Mary's uncle. Least of all Mary.The plot is straightforward, but that doesn't matter. There are numerous tiny twists and turns wending sinuously through the book, keeping it moving along. The characters are wonderful, and the sub-plots are wonderful. (I was laughing aloud at the account of the Barchester election, the feud between Drs Thorne and Fillgrave, and at the unfortunate Miss Gushing turning Methodist.) The writing is wonderful. In fact, the whole book is wonderful and now I am gushing.
    • 4/5
      I love Trollope. I won't argue with those people who claim that Charles Dickens was far more talented than Trollope, but I can't argee with those who claim that Trollope is dull. The world he recreates is essentially a cosy one, but I find his characters more recognisable than the larger-than-life ones Dickens creates. Anyway, on to the book. The story really concerns the doctor's niece, whose genteel upbringing and manners aren't quite enough to compensate for the fact that she was born illegitimately.From the start of the book we are aware that she and Frank Gresham are in love, but Frank's landowner father has left the estate in such dire straits that all Frank hears is that he must, absolutely must, 'marry money'.Mary is effectively banned from Frank's presence, as being neither rich enough nor high-born enough to be considered a suitable bride for Frank. Frank, however, remains true to Mary, despite all the bullying from his parents.This is not a king and beggarmaid story, however. Mary inherits a vast fortune from her mother's brother, wealthy drunkard Roger Scatcherd. Naturally, as an heiress she at once becomes a suitable match for Frank, except to those for whom her base birth remains an insurmountable obstacle. It would of course leave a sour taste in the mouth if Frank had rejected her whilst she was poor, or when he learnt of her illegitimacy. Frank kept faith with Mary, and his reward is that he does indeed get to 'marry money'. [April 2005]
    • 4/5
      Doctor Thorne, Anthony Trollope's third Barsetshire chronicle, moves away from the ecclesiastical confabulations of the first two books and into the realm of domestic intrigue a lá Austen. Published in 1858, this novel follows the lives of Mary Thorne, whose illegitimate birth has been hushed up by her uncle the doctor, and Frank Gresham, heir to the heavily mortgaged Greshambury estate. Frank and Mary fall in love, of course, but Frank simply must marry money. And the doctor's niece has none. The story deals with many themes, including the social stigma of illegitimacy, the pressing need of good families to marry money, the horrible effects of alcohol addiction, the corrupt election process, and what integrity really looks like. Trollope's careful pen draws the eye to every human foible without being merciless in this gently humorous tale. The story and characters reminded me of Elizabeth Gaskell's Wives and Daughters. Molly and Mary are very similar; both have as a father-figure the local country doctor, both fall in love with a young man of higher rank, and both are persecuted in their social circles for a perceived indiscretion. Doctor Gibson and Doctor Thorne are also similar—reserved, prideful, principled, fiercely protective, and Scottish! My favorite character is probably Miss Dunstable, an heiress who has no illusions about her money and the fawning hangers-on it purchases. She is thrown together with Frank in order that he may marry money and save the family honor, but they soon come to a right understanding. She becomes Mary's champion, urging Frank to remain faithful to her no matter what his family says. She's that great.Trollope is just as comfortable with female characters as male; his portraits of Lady Arabella and the relationships among the female de Courcy cousins are spot-on, with that dash of satire to give the whole thing spice (like when Augusta Gresham's haughty cousin advises her against marrying a lowly lawyer... and eventually marries the selfsame man herself!). Some may find Trollope's narrative voice intrusive, but I for one enjoy being told that things will turn out all right. But though he does tell us some things ahead of time, other things he keeps secret till the very end. It's just enough suspense to keep me reading madly. Once again, Trollope delivers. I'm thankful to have discovered his work.
    • 5/5
      Another delightful book in the Barsetshire Chronicles series. I love the gentle sarcasm of the stories and the wonderful names Trollope gives his characters: Dr. Fillgrave, publican Readypalm, Miss Gushing who became Mrs. Rantaway, and the attorneys Bideawhile and Slow. They remind me somewhat of books by Jane Austen (which I also adore). Pure enjoyment.
    • 5/5
      Another masterpiece of exquisite prose, perhaps the best in the language, and delicious irony, from the master novelist, Sir Anthony Trollope.
    • 5/5
      Another trashy page turner from Trollope. He and Dr Thorne are wonderful.
    • 5/5
      Enjoyed reading it after watching its adaptation into a TV series by Julian Fallowes, the creator of Downtown Abbey. The reader makes Trollope, one of my favorite novelists, come alive.
    • 5/5
      Frank loves Mary. Mary loves Frank. Frank's father is broke and aristocratic. Frank needs to marry money, and lots of it. Mary is broke and illegitimate. Frank's mother refuses to have Mary in the house. Mary's uncle is rich and dying and holds the mortgage on Frank's father's estate. But no-one knows that he is Mary's uncle. Least of all Mary.The plot is straightforward, but that doesn't matter. There are numerous tiny twists and turns wending sinuously through the book, keeping it moving along. The characters are wonderful, and the sub-plots are wonderful. (I was laughing aloud at the account of the Barchester election, the feud between Drs Thorne and Fillgrave, and at the unfortunate Miss Gushing turning Methodist.) The writing is wonderful. In fact, the whole book is wonderful and now I am gushing.
    • 5/5
      I love this book and this author. He has a gift of understatement and at the same time quietly critiquing the class system of the 1800’s.
    • 4/5
      Oh, those wacky Victorians! Frank Gresham and Mary Thorne are "in love," but how can they possibly marry? After all, Mary's parents never married ... in fact, her father had seduced her mother, a poor serving girl, and then was killed by the mother's brother once the pregnancy was discovered. And, needless to say, she's not exactly well off from a monetary point of view.Meanwhile, Frank's father has run the family estate into some serious financial problems, and Frank has to "marry money" if he's to save the day.Various coincidences and much agonizing occur before, and I don't think this will spoil the book for anyone, the happy ending.Yet for all the soap opera-ish aspects of the book, I very much enjoyed it, as I have all of Trollope's books. As the saying goes, if you like this kind of thing, this is exactly the kind of thing you're going to like.Note: Coincidentally, I was reading Henry Adams' Education at the same time as I was reading this. It's fascinating to consider they were both written during about the same time, the second half of the 19th century, when you consider how very very far about Adams' and Trollope's world vies seem to be.
    • 5/5
      This is a long story, but well worth the read! It's a delicious classic that will not disappoint!
    • 4/5
      I think I actually enjoyed this one more than Barchester Towers. You knew exactly where it was going but it was quite fun getting there. I did get a little bored towards the end and wanted it to conclude. And the whole let's tell Frank first instead of Mary herself that she is rich did make me want to throw things. But it was enjoyable.
    • 4/5
      About 200 pages in, a parliamentary candidate is dismissed by the book's hero as a "muff" because it is discovered that he would "vote for an extension of the franchise, and the admission of the Jews into Parliament."

      So, on the one hand I will probably keep reading these as they're delightful Victorian romances. But on the other hand, fuck you Anthony Trollope, you dirty Jew-hating asshat.
    • 4/5
      Doctor Thorne is the third novel in Anthony Trollope’s series known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire; set in Greshamsbury, a rural town many miles away from the cathedral city the was the setting for the first two novels.Mr Francis Gresham is the squire of Greshamsbury, and as he story begins he is celebrating the coming of age of his only son, Frank, with his family and friends. The squire is rightly proud of his son, who is handsome, good-natured, and popular; and his great hope is that Frank will marry a wealthy heiress and restore the impoverished and debt-laden family estate.Sir Roger Scatcherd has underwritten the debt. He was a man with humble roots who had survived a terrible scandal and achieved great success through his own labour; only to learn that he lived in a land where birth and bloodlines meant much, and where lesser men would look down on him and his family. And so when he could work no more he took refuge in drink, even when his good friend Doctor Thorne told him that was killing him.Frank understands his father’s wishes, but he is besotted with the lovely Mary Thorne, who is the niece of the local doctor, and who grew up alongside Frank and his sisters. He would happily marry her, hope for the best, and, if the best didn’t happen, live a simpler life.When Lady Arabella Gresham discovers her son’s interest in Mary Thorne, she is horrified. She was a De Courcey, she had been born into a family much grander than the Greshams, she understood the importance of doing the right and proper thing, and so she set about separating the young pair. It wasn’t simply a matter of money, it was also a matter of bloodlines.When Frank made a declaration of love, Mary turned him away. It wasn’t that she didn’t love him; indeed she probably had deeper feelings for him than he had for her. She had just learned that she was illegitimate and, because she was young and idealistic, she told herself that she could not – would not – lower her young man and his family.Doctor Thorne had made a promise, many years earlier, to keep Mary’s origins secret, and he kept that promise. He knew that if he spoke out there would be consequences for The House of Gresham and The House of Scatcherd, as well as the niece who he knows is a great lady in every way that is important. The secret is a great burden that many men would struggle with, it weighs heavily on him, but he believes that carrying it alone is the right thing to do.Trollope spins his story around the three households – the established household of Mr Francis Gresham, the newly elevated household of Mr Francis Gresham and the professional household of Dr Thorne, caught between the two – wonderfully well; and that speaks profoundly of the workings of society and its failure to allow men and women to rise or fall, and of the wisdom and foolishness of those men and women.The secret is fundamental and Trollope – who I am quite sure was a man could never keep a secret – sets out all of the facts for his readers early in the book, allowing them to empathise with Doctor Thorne and wonder if he really is going to be able to sort this one out satisfactorily by the end of the book.He did – just about.Along the way he presented some wonderful characters, relationships and situations.I was particularly taken by Miss Dunstable, who was a wealthy woman with an independent spirit and a great deal of worldly wisdom. Frank set about courting her, to please his family, but she saw that his heart wasn’t in it, she got the truth out of him, and told him that they should be friends and that he really should follow his hear and pursue Mary Thorne.Many authors would have made Frank the hero of this story, and Trollope acknowledges this in a wonderful aside:“He would have been the hero of our tale had not that place been pre-occupied by the village doctor. As it is, those who please may regard him. It is he who is to be our favourite young man, to do the love scenes, to have his trails and his difficulties, and to win through them or not, as the case may be. I am too old now to be a hard-hearted author, and so it is probable that he may not die of a broken heart. Those who don’t approve of a middle-aged bachelor country doctor as a hero, may take the heir to Greshamsbury in his stead, and call the book, if it so please them, ‘The Loves and Adventures of Francis Newbold Gresham the Younger.”I liked Frank, but the village doctor made a much better hero. He raised his niece as his own child, and he did it wonderfully well; he did what he felt was right as a doctor, while many of his contemporaries thought rather too much of their fees and their social standing; was a good friend to both Sir Roger and Mr Gresham; and he even stood up to Lady Annabel in full sail in a wonderful scene that shows Trollope at his best.That is not to say that he was a paragon. He was something much better – a real and fallible man.I found much to love in this book, but I didn’t love it quite as much as I had hoped I might. I think that was because the whole story was spun around one central romance that was drawn out a little too much, leaving quiet periods where I couldn’t help wondering what was going on in Barsetshire.That’s not to say that I didn’t love the country. I did, and I would happily go back there again. But I can’t say that this book is a particular favourite, or that it is more than the sum of its parts, and I think that the next book – ‘Framley Parsonage’ is rather better constructed.I can say that I love the memory of this book; and that it has grown on me since I finished reading.I’m happy that I remember watching the story unfold, watching Mary and Frank mature, and reaching the ending that Trollope told me was inevitable at the start if the book.
    • 4/5
      I wonder whether any other readers have had the experience of watching Julian Fellowes's "adaptation" of 'Doctor Thorne' after reading the novel. I was incredulous at the travesty Julian Fellowes made of what he said was one of his favorite novels. From beginning to end Fellowes's adaptation changes the plot, contrives scenes and dialogue that are not in the novel, alters characters, and turns the whole tale into a sort of burlesque that is very far indeed from the spirit of Trollope's novel. I also read half a dozen reviews of Fellowes's production. The New York Times review was worthless. Only one review noted that Fellowes made changes (but since the review was only of episode one and the alterations became more thoroughgoing as the story progressed, The Telegraph (I think it was) didn't comment on the extent of the changes. I don't think any of the people writing the reviews had read the novel. I'm very disappointed in Julian Fellowes, who claimed to admire Trollope. He makes several misstatements in his introductions, as when he says Trollope's description of Sir Louis Philippe Scatherd's death is extremely moving, while in the novel the character's death is not described directly. As for this 1997 edition of the novel, James Kincaid's introduction is disappointing. Kincaid is, or was, the Aerol Arnold Professor at the University of Southern California and author of The Novels of Anthony Trollope (1977), Child-Loving: The Erotic Child and Victorian Culture (1992), and Annoying the Victorians (1995). Kincaid's introduction is dominated by the notion that there are dark “energies" that are "at work” in the novel (xix). Kincaid likes Sir Richard Scatcherd, “a fully sympathetic character of great power and ability, drawn against his will into a world that uses him ruthlessly and then leaves him with no prospect but death” (xix). "Fully sympathetic," a character who browbeats his wife? As for the happy ending, it “is a happiness rooted in sacrifice and darkness, originating in a rape and ending in an ambivalently tragic suicide, the blood sacrifice of the railroad king so that true ‘blood’ may be preserved” (xx). In fact, there was a seduction, not a “rape” (ch. 2). Kincaid would have us believe that Trollope’s novel is “subversive” (xx). “Louis Philippe forces the Greshams and even Doctor Thorne to recognise what they are doing and what readers must do to reach the land of comic fulfillment” (xx). This is a considerable exaggeration. At the beginning of the novel, Kincaid says, “placid, gracious, rural England” seems doomed to give way to “the tidal wave of new invention, new money, new power sweeping over the country like its major symbol, the railroad” (xx). In fact railroads are not much mentioned, and are only one source, and not even necessarily the main part, of the source of the fortune of Roger Scatcherd, who is mentioned building “a harbor” before railways are mentioned, and has even been chosen to build the Panama Canal. Doctor Thorne and Mary manage “to preserve, at least for now, the old values and the old forms” (xxi). In fact, in Trollope's novel such a victory is made to seem the inevitable outcome produced by the inferior values of the upstarts. If for Kincaid, the novel shows with “almost brutal honesty . . . the cost of winning what finally is a class war” (xxi), this also is willfully and luridly overdrawn — readers certainly do not come to Trollope because of his brutal portrayals of class war! “[T]he reader is asked to regard as a hero the very figure whose steadfast ethical and social principles rest on quicksand” (xxi). Again, this is not at all Trollope’s view or the view that the novel is organized around; it is, rather, the opinion of Prof. Kincaid. Kincaid continues for the rest of the introduction, hammering round pegs into square holes with alacrity. The character of Miss Dunstable doesn’t fit his interpretation, but the American professor brushes this off as “just one example of Trollope’s sly and disruptive way of playing with the reader’s conventional expectations” (xxii).Kincaid has nothing at all to say about the bizarre social position of Doctor Thorne, except to say (inaccurately) that he is “outside of class” (xxiii) -- it is really of Mary that this might possibly be said. Mary’s situation, oddly enough, seems not to interest Kincaid at all.Kincaid’s conclusion, in its desperation to make the novel attuned to contemporary sensibilities, is also utterly anti-Trollopean. If Kincaid were to be believed, Doctor Thorne “makes us wonder if [the nostalgic pastoral idyll that was England] is worth the trip. In order to get there it is necessary to play very rough, strew some corpses around. Trollope lets us know that this feudal England will not be along for long and maybe was not worth recalling in the first place” (xxiv). It offers us “the illusion, and that is all it may be, that something in this world can come to good” (xxiv). What an undesirable introduction for this novel! Is there a single reader who is led to read the novel sympathetically and with more pleasure and insight as a result? I doubt it. The tendentiousness of Kincaid’s introduction is underscored by the fact that none of the themes he divines is mentioned in the various reviews and appreciations that are reviewed in the interesting supplement at the end of the volume, “Anthony Trollope and His Critics,” which focuses on the reception of the novel.I should note, however, that Hugh Osborne's notes to this edition are excellent and are a sufficient reason to buy the Penguin edition. It's too bad, though, that there are so many misprints in the edition: "fortume" for "fortune" (xx), "neice" for "niece" (xxi), "of" for "or" (376), "lest" for "let" (379), "stool" for "stood" (382), to mention only a few.
    • 4/5
      An excellent book that shows how patience in love can be rewarded. Frank Gresham is the son and heir of a landowner who's heavily mortgaged his property to cover his debts. Mary Thorne is the illegitimate niece of a local doctor. Together, they fall in love and become engaged. Frank's mother, Lady Arabella, tries to move heaven and earth to get her son to marry money and save the family. The saga takes years. That can be the annoying part of the story. Such back and forth, yes I'll marry her, no I won't. But if you push through, the ending is rewarding.
    • 5/5
      It's a long time since I read a novel by Anthony Trollope and I read this quickly in the hope of keeping one step ahead of the television series (I like to read the book first, watch the TV/film second). I enjoyed every word of it. Trollope tells his stories as if he and I are having a comfortable chat in a comfortable lounge at the end of a happy day. A delightful story, beautifully drawn out with descriptions and discussions and sensitively colouring of the characters.
    • 4/5
      Frank, the heir to Greshamsbury must marry money, but falls in love with Dr Thorne's niece who has neither position or fortune. Trollope is expert at characterisation, from the sweetly dignified Dr Thorne to Lady Arabella who is desperate for her son to marry well to save the estate and maintain his social position. Her failed attempts to pressurise Thorne into supporting her machinations are wonderfully written. And with Mary Thorne as a discrete heroine, this generous-hearted social satire was as enjoyable as a Jane Austen.
    • 4/5
      This was the first one I had a little trouble getting into, but once I hit a certain point, I was completely taken in. This volume was a bit like a Jane Austen story but with some political intrigue included, which I quite enjoyed. Thoroughly excellent.
    • 3/5
      The story of illegitimate Mary Thorne, who is brought up by her uncle (Dr Thorne), and who falls in love with the son of the local squire, Frank Gresham. Frank falls in love with her back, but his parents want him to marry money, since they have mismanaged the estate so badly. I found this novel rather tiresome: there were endless discussions of what "good blood" the Gresham line was and whether it was appropriate for them to marry people "in trade", let alone an illegitimate woman. There was far less humour than I expect from a Trollope novel and about two-thirds of the way through I just wanted Frank to shut up about his plight, go out and get a proper job and marry Mary already. Everything seemed to drag and the same dilemmas were rehearsed over and over again.Frank's father and sisters are, we are told endlessly, very fond of Mary, but they treat her disgracefully. Mary (and indeed Frank and Dr Thorne too) are a bit lacking in the personality department, although, on the other hand, Lady Arabella and Miss Dunstable were great characters. The story of Augusta, Mr Gazebee and Lady Amelia was a nice touch. I know it was intended to be history repeating itself, but the deaths of Sir Roger and then his son were dealt with at greater length than seemed necessary.Overall, I was confused about what Trollope was saying about marriage and money and birth. The doctor is described as very proud of his birth and yet he brings Mary up in ignorance of her true circumstances, allows her to run around with the squire's children and to think of herself as a lady. What did he intend for her? If she had not so conveniently become an heiress, should she have married Frank? Should Frank have been told of her parentage before he proposed for the first time? Was he right to say it made no difference (or did he really mean that it was too late?
    • 4/5
      Reading Doctor Thorne has reminded me why I usually enjoy reading classic fiction written in the nineteenth century, rather than historical fiction set in the same period. In my experience, while historical authors frequently get the practical details of their time period right, the opinions expressed are too often those of the twenty-first century. And in Anthony Trollope's Doctor Thorne, which as well as being a simple love story, is essentially a discussion of class and money, and how much the need for one overrides the desire for the other when choosing a marriage partner, the very different attitudes of the nineteenth century are very apparent. But rather merely accepting one set of attitudes,Trollope looks at them, and questions them, quite closely, which makes this a much more thoughtful book than the plot would suggest. The beginnings of the story of Dr Thorne lie more than twenty years before the period in which the book is set, when Dr Thorne's wilder brother seduces the sister of a stonemason in the town of Barchester, who was on the brink of marriage to a respectable tradesman.The woman, Mary Scatcherd, becomes pregnant and when her brother Roger discovers the fact he attacks and kills the seducer in a drunken rage, and is imprisoned for manslaughter. When Mary's baby is born she is seemingly destitute, but her previous suitor announces that he will marry her after all, and emigrate to America with her, if she will only leave the baby. So Dr Thorne, very much against the norms of the day, and against his own principles that blood is everything, offers to take the baby and being her up as his legitimate niece.So in twenty years time Mary Thorne is the acknowledged niece of Dr Thorne, living in the village of Greshambury where her history is unknown, and is halfway to being in love with Frank Gresham, the son of the local squire. But Frank's father has been building up debt after debt on his estate and it is absolutely essential in the eyes of his family, and in the eyes of the world, that Frank should marry money. And even without the debts it is surely impossible that a Gresham of Greshambury should marry a girl who is illegitimate... And meanwhile the outraged brother, of twenty years ago, Roger Scatcherd, has prospered enormously after his release from prison and has built up a very large fortune indeed ...The plot is a little obvious with this one, but it's enjoyable none the less. I was a little surprised to have the characters from The Warden and Barchester Towers make very fleeting appearances indeed: Dr Thorne could be read as a stand alone book with no difficulty at all.
    • 5/5
      This series just keeps getting better and better and for me, this one was the best so far. As much as I enjoyed the social commentary in the first two, it was refreshing to step away from the debate over who would be the new town Warden. In this novel Doctor Thorne’s brother leaves his illegitimate child in the Doctor’s care upon his death. The Doctor raises her as his own daughter. As Mary Thorne grows up she spends many of her days playing with the wealthy Gresham children. Years later Mary and Frank, the only Gresham son, fall in love but he is told by his controlling mother, Lady Arabella that he must marry for money to save the family estate. Scatcherd is Mary’s uncle on the other side of her family (her mother’s brother). He starts off as a lowly stonemason, but rises to power as he becomes wealthy. As the Greshams sink farther and farther into debt, Scatcherd’s control of their property increases. Upon his death he plans to leave his vast wealth and the Gresham’s home to his son, but if his degenerate son passes away everything will go to his next closet relative, who happens to be Mary. As a novel progressed I began to realize that it was an interesting combination of “Pride and Prejudice,” “Persuasion,” and “Great Expectations.” Mary and Frank’s relationship mirrors the first. Frank’s entire family reminded me of Darcy and Bingley’s extended clan. Even though they all love Mary, they discourage the match because she isn’t a suitable wife for Frank. There’s also Frank's sister who turns down a proposal because her cousin tells her it's unacceptable, which brought “Persuasion” to mind. The tidy full-circle plot which features an orphan reminded me of Dickens. This is not to say that Doctor Thorne is a recreation of any other novel. The book just reminded me of some of my favorites in a very positive way. Dr. Thorne is such a moral man and he has such strong protective feelings for his niece. Even though he could secure her future by sharing her potential wealth as an heiress, he wants Frank and his family to love her for who she is, regardless of whether she is rich or poor. That’s why this is truly Doctor Thorne’s story and not Frank or Mary’s. Doctor Thorne is trapped in the midst of this impossible situation and every decision he makes is with Mary’s best interest at heart. He is the best kind of man. BOTTOM LINE: Unlike the previous two books, this one was an unabashed love story. The exploration of social standing and class are so beautifully written you can't help but root for Frank and Mary throughout the book. This has definitely been my absolute favorite of the Barchester books so far. “There is no road to wealth so easy and respectable as that of matrimony.” 
    • 3/5
      Trollope's style is lovely, but the plot in this one's a bit thin- while the first two Barsetshire novels felt a bit short, this feels too long. This is particularly odd, since all the asides and expostulations that feature in Barchester Towers are thankfully missing from this book. After some thought, I decided that the main reason this one was less interesting is that while Barchester was about politics, this is a pretty straightforward love story. There's some politics involved, but the satire is comparatively light. Also, the characters seem much flatter on this side of Barsetshire, probably because we don't see anyone wanting anything other than a) more money; b) more booze; c) a 'good' marriage in the family or d) their beloved. Not much grey area for Trollope to investigate and poke fun at in there. Mary's too close to Clarissa and too far from Mrs Proudie. Miss Dunstable, on the other hand, is fabulous, and I hear she turns up again in Framley Parsonage.
    • 4/5
      Not quite as humorous as Trollope's Barchester Towers but still a fun look at English country society especially in regards to the ever-present need to marry money! A satirical look at the extent to which money will excuse or obstruct breeding and manners (good and bad) in the matrimonial plans of both young people and their families.

      2019 reread via LibriVox audiobook:
      I enjoyed this 3rd book in the Barsetshire series even more this time around.
    • 4/5
      This is the 3rd in Anthony Trollope's Chronicles of Barchester, and my favorite (so far). Dr. Thorne lives with his niece Mary in the English village of Greshamsbury which is dominated by the wealthy Gresham family. Frank, the heir of the Gresham estate, has fallen in love with Mary Thorne, but circumstances have doomed their future. The Gresham family has fallen into heavy debt and Frank needs to save the family by marrying a wealthy heiress. Unfortunately, not only does Mary no have a fortune, she is the illegitimate child of Dr. Thorne's dead brother. With humor and satire, Trollope unfolds a charming Victorian novel that gently criticizes the social values of class and birth. Excellently read by Simon Vance.
    • 4/5
      Although romance is at the center of Doctor Thorne, the male protagonist, Doctor Thorne, is not the romantic lead. He's the uncle of Mary Thorne, who comes to live with him in her early adolescence. Unknown to almost everyone except Doctor Thorne and the reader, Mary is the illegitimate daughter of Thorne's brother and a working class girl. Mary is allowed to continue her education with the Gresham children, whose father, the squire, is the leading figure in local society. Inevitably, the squire's only son and heir, Frank, falls in love with Mary. However, Frank isn't free to marry whomever he chooses. Because of the squire's financial problems, the family insists that Frank must marry money, leaving Frank with an impossible choice. Why won't Doctor Thorne intervene? He and the reader know something that the other characters don't, something that might change everything...There are similarities between Mary Thorne's situation and Harriet Smith's situation in Emma. Emma ignored Harriet's lack of family connection and wealth and encouraged Harriet to aspire to marry above her station, almost ensuring that Harriet wouldn't marry at all. Doctor Thorne was less impulsive than Emma, but no less at fault. Harriet was of marriageable age when Emma took her on as a matchmaking project. Mary was still a child when she came to live with her uncle. He failed to think about what would happen when Mary reached adulthood.This was a tiny bit of a letdown after Barchester Towers. I missed the church politics and all of the wonderfully flawed characters in the ranks of the clergy. The de Courcy women, including Lady Arabella Gresham, could learn a thing or two from Mrs. Proudie. Still, it's Trollope so it's entertaining and at times laugh-out-loud funny. Even the names of the characters can bring a smile to your face – Miss Gushing, Dr. Fillgrave, Mr. Reddypalm, Mr. Nearthewinde. Readers who enjoy Victorian historical fiction should give Trollope a try.
    • 4/5
      The third book in Trollope’s Chronicles of Barsetshire series had the same effect on me as the first two: I was lulled into a stupor of pleasant reverie while simultaneously fuming at an intolerable injustice. And just like the first two books, Trollope was happy to let me in on every single secret so that every possible plot twist and the probable ending were known to me well in advance. You have no fear of spoilers here. Trollope does the spoiling himself, making it pretty clear early on what ending you can expect. So what’s a modern reader, totally unschooled in this kind of storytelling, to do? Go with the flow, folks, go with the flow. It doesn’t really matter. The key to Trollope, in my estimation anyway, is his clever and complicated character sketches. Poor Mary (you’ll repeat that a couple hundred times during the course of the narrative), born of questionable parentage but brought up lovingly by her uncle the eponymous doctor, is in love with the upper class heir to the Greshamsbury estate, Frank Gresham. And Frank is in love with her even if she is penniless. But Frank’s father is in deep debt and Frank has to “marry money,” otherwise how will he keep the wolf from the door and who will save Greshamsbury? After all, his sister is willing to forego a marriage based on love and, instead, “marry money”, and no less is expected from Frank. Really, much more is expected from him. But he is insisting on Mary and no one else. So you know without any further ado, that something (or someone) is going to intervene to make this storybook romance come true. And before long you know exactly how it will come about. And you know all this with at least half of the 600 page book left to read. The rest of the book is spent twisting and turning its way to the ultimate conclusion. Mary sums up the main theme of the book this way:”She said to herself, proudly, that God's handiwork was the inner man, the inner woman, the naked creature animated by a living soul; that all other adjuncts were but man's clothing for the creature; all others, whether stitched by tailors or contrived by kings. Was it not within her capacity to do as nobly, to love as truly, to worship her God in heaven with as perfect a faith, and her god on earth with as leal a troth, as though blood had descended to her purely through scores of purely born progenitors?” (Page 133)Ahhh lovely sentiments and true of course. Mary is certainly good enough for Frank and marrying for money seldom works out well. The problem is that at this time in England, it was pretty much impossible for someone with Mary’s sketchy background to marry someone of Frank’s long family heritage. Unless……well, an enormous fortune might make a difference. But I’m not going to spoil it for you. I’ll let Mr. Trollope do that and you won’t even mind. Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      Not having read any Trollope before, I didn’t realise that this is the third novel in the ‘Barsetshire’ series. Fortunately, while some characters might be recurring, the book is completely self-contained and order of reading absolutely unimportant, particularly as the author seems unfond of twists in plot, and furnishes the reader with lots of comfortable authorial insight. The novel is therefore quite unchallenging, but in an agreeable way.Mary Thorne, illegitimate niece of the book’s hero (on which point every reasonable reader will agree with the author) Dr. Thorne, loves and is loved by the son of the local squire, whose fortune and living have dwindled to the point where a judicious marriage for young Frank Gresham is the only hope for the family’s security and good standing. Dr. Thorne himself, while not rich, is placed in the problematic situation of executing a will that has every bearing on Mary’s romantic plight. This plot, unburdened by any disagreeable suspense, and further lightened by Trollope’s drollery (and some shameless author intrusion), kept me entertained but left me a little embarrassed at not having to work any harder for it.
    • 4/5
      Doctor Thorne, Anthony Trollope's third Barsetshire chronicle, moves away from the ecclesiastical confabulations of the first two books and into the realm of domestic intrigue a lá Austen. Published in 1858, this novel follows the lives of Mary Thorne, whose illegitimate birth has been hushed up by her uncle the doctor, and Frank Gresham, heir to the heavily mortgaged Greshambury estate. Frank and Mary fall in love, of course, but Frank simply must marry money. And the doctor's niece has none. The story deals with many themes, including the social stigma of illegitimacy, the pressing need of good families to marry money, the horrible effects of alcohol addiction, the corrupt election process, and what integrity really looks like. Trollope's careful pen draws the eye to every human foible without being merciless in this gently humorous tale. The story and characters reminded me of Elizabeth Gaskell's Wives and Daughters. Molly and Mary are very similar; both have as a father-figure the local country doctor, both fall in love with a young man of higher rank, and both are persecuted in their social circles for a perceived indiscretion. Doctor Gibson and Doctor Thorne are also similar—reserved, prideful, principled, fiercely protective, and Scottish! My favorite character is probably Miss Dunstable, an heiress who has no illusions about her money and the fawning hangers-on it purchases. She is thrown together with Frank in order that he may marry money and save the family honor, but they soon come to a right understanding. She becomes Mary's champion, urging Frank to remain faithful to her no matter what his family says. She's that great.Trollope is just as comfortable with female characters as male; his portraits of Lady Arabella and the relationships among the female de Courcy cousins are spot-on, with that dash of satire to give the whole thing spice (like when Augusta Gresham's haughty cousin advises her against marrying a lowly lawyer... and eventually marries the selfsame man herself!). Some may find Trollope's narrative voice intrusive, but I for one enjoy being told that things will turn out all right. But though he does tell us some things ahead of time, other things he keeps secret till the very end. It's just enough suspense to keep me reading madly. Once again, Trollope delivers. I'm thankful to have discovered his work.
    • 4/5
      2007, Blackstone Audiobooks, Read by Simon VanceTrollope’s Chronicles of Barsetshire are a source of delight for me, and Dr. Thorne more than lived up to my expectations. True to form, Trollope delights with manors and manners, money and the lack of it, highborns and illegitimates, romance and scandal. Naturally, class distinctions are ever-present as the prominent families of the novel are introduced: the very moral, very middle-class Thornes; the Greshams, entitled by birth but near bankrupt on account of poor management; the Scatcherds, not entitled by birth, but exorbitantly wealthy; and the De Coursys, high-born, wealthy, entitled, and arrogant. Excitement ensues when Frank Gresham and Mary Thorne fall in love. Mary, though well raised, well loved, and well mannered, is not only exceedingly middle-class but, much worse, illegitimate and poor. And Frank’s father has put him in a position where he must marry for money or risk the family estate. “Instead of heart beating to heart in sympathetic unison, purse chinks to purse.” (9/18) Oh, the Victorian drama! At its heart, Dr. Thorne is a character story. To a fault, the characters are round and relatable: the doctor, compassionate, sensible, and loyal; Mary Thorne, mannered, independent, and indignant; Lady Arabella Gresham, highborn, insufferable, and broke; Frank Gresham, noble, honest, and also near broke; Sir Roger Scatcherd, obscenely wealthy, ruthless, and hopelessly alcoholic. The novel is wonderfully written and perfectly read by Simon Vance in this Blackstone Audiobook. Trollope’s humour, wit, and gentle social sarcasm make for delightful entertainment. Highly recommended!