Doctor Thorne TV Tie-In with a foreword by Julian Fellowes: The Chronicles of Barsetshire (Oxford World's Classics) - Softcover

Reading it made me laugh out loud and admire Trollope's wit, literary wizardry and hilarious digs at the debt-riden gentry's snobbish obsession with pedigree, money and the marriage market. (Val Hennessy, Daily Mail)

I read it over Easter & was glued to my chair for hours at a time. (Lyn Baines, I Prefer Reading)

Within this descriptive and compelling tale we encounter envy, avarice, brutality and arrogance, but essentially, Doctor Thorne is a beautifully written, nineteenth century tale of loyal, unfailing love. Excellent stuff; I just loved it! (Carrie King, The Writer's Drawer)

There is wonderful comedy in Doctor Thorne...The book is a testament to Trollope's belief in decency as a guide to living, and I think we are made all the better for it. (Julian Fellowes, from his Foreword to the Oxford World's Classics edition.)

Now adapted for ITV by Julian Fellowes, Doctor Thorne is the compelling story in which rank, wealth, and personal feeling are pitted against one another.

The squire of Greshamsbury has fallen on hard times, and it is incumbent on his son Frank to make a good marriage. But Frank loves the doctor's niece, Mary Thorne, a girl with no money and mysterious parentage. He faces a terrible dilemma: should he save the estate, or marry the girl he loves? Mary, too, has to battle her feelings, knowing that marrying Frank would ruin his family and fly in the face of his mother's opposition. Her pride is matched by that of her uncle, Dr Thorne, who has to decide whether to reveal a secret that would resolve Frank's difficulty, or to uphold the innate merits of his own family heritage.

The character of Dr Thorne reflects Trollope's own contradictory feelings about the value of tradition and the need for change. His subtle portrayal, and the comic skill and gentle satire with which the story is developed, are among the many pleasures of this delightful novel.