A review by harrietannreads
The Small House at Allington by Anthony Trollope

4.0

This took me toooo long to read but I blame that on me being endlessly daunted by classics even once I’ve started reading them. I always have it in mind that I will find them difficult which puts me off picking them up. Also, to note, it says that this is the 5th in a series but even Trollope himself didn’t want it to be included in the series and many of his fans think it oughtn’t be either- so I read it as a stand-alone.

Despite it taking me ages, I loved this book. It had the wit of a Jane Austen book which no one could dislike but beyond that it was fundamentally unique! There was a perfect balance of character development, narration, dialogue, setting the scene etc. It was also very well paced and at no point did it feel rushed or like it dragged. Overall, a very pleasant read. I think, slightly unfairly, the only reason I haven’t given it a 5 star rating is from my own inability to overcome my difficulties reading classics. Will definitely read more of his work though now I’ve tried it!