Christmas at Thompson Hall | Anthony Trollope | A Bitesized Audiobook

Video Description

Mr. and Mrs. Brown are trying to return from the south of France to spend Christmas at Mrs. Brown's old family home, Thompson Hall at Stratford-le-Bow. Mr. Brown's sore throat makes him a reluctant traveller, but Mrs. Brown will stop at nothing to make sure they reach their destination by Christmas morning... An original narration of a classic public domain text, performed by Simon Stanhope, aka Bitesized Audio. If you enjoy this content and would like to help me keep creating, there are a few ways you can support me: * Occasional/one-off support via Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/bitesizedaudio * Monthly support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/bitesizedaudio * Visit my Bandcamp page to hear more of my performances of classic stories, and you can purchase and download high quality audio files to listen offline: https://bitesizedaudio.bandcamp.com/ * Become a Bitesized Audio Classics member on YouTube, from $1 per month with various benefits: https://www.youtube.com/c/BitesizedAudioClassics/join Chapters/Timestamps: 00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:21 Chapter 1: Mrs. Brown's Success 00:23:48 Chapter 2: Mrs. Brown's Failure 00:39:15 Chapter 3: Mrs. Brown Attempts to Escape 00:57:43 Chapter 4: Mrs. Brown Does Escape 01:23:57 Chapter 5: Mrs. Brown at Thompson Hall 01:42:40 Merry Christmas, thanks and further listening Anthony Trollope (1815–1882) is now regarded as having secured a place as one of the great Victorian novelists, ranked alongside such contemporaries as Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Thomas Hardy, Wilkie Collins, William Thackeray and Mrs. Gaskell, although towards the end of his life his literary reputation fell and his work was somewhat overlooked until a critical reassessment in the mid-20th century. He was born in London, one of several children of Thomas Anthony Trollope, a barrister, and his wife Frances Milton Trollope, who was herself to become a successful and highly regarded novelist in the 1830s and 40s (her 1836 book 'Jonathan Jefferson Whitlaw' was a strongly anti-slavery novel which is said to have influenced Harriet Beecher Stowe in writing 'Uncle Tom's Cabin'). Anthony stayed in London when his mother (and later his father) spent several years living in the United States; soon after their return to Europe his father's debts obliged the family to relocate to Belgium, and Anthony joined them there briefly before returning to England to take up a clerkship in the General Post Office, arranged by a family friend. He remained with the postal service for several years, including a stint in Ireland as a postal surveyor. He began writing while taking countless long train journeys around Ireland in the course of his official duties as a Post Office Inspector. During his Irish service he met and married his wife, Rose Heseltine (1821–1917). Many of his early novels were set in and about Ireland, although these received a mixed reception. Trollope was sent back to England in 1851, to take charge of the postal service in south west England and Wales, which again necessitated much travel. It was at this time that he conceived the "Barchester" novels which were to make his name, beginning with 'The Warden' (1855) and 'Barchester Towers' (1857). His seniority at the Post Office grew in parallel with his success as a novelist, and on being passed over for the role of Chief Secretary to the Postmaster General in the early 1860s he decided to resign and make his living as an author. He contributed fiction to the Cornhill Magazine, St Paul's Magazine and other periodicals, and also co-founded his own magazine, the Fortnightly Review, in 1865. Leaving public service meant he was now free to indulge his interest in politics; he became active in Liberal circles and at the 1868 general election he stood as the Liberal candidate for Parliament at Beverley, in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Although the Liberal Party won that election, bringing William Gladstone to power as prime minister for the first of his four terms, Trollope himself failed to gain his seat, being defeated by the Conservatives. The "Palliser" novels, his second great series of novels (after Barchester) reflect his interest in politics, government, the use of (and corruption by) power. Trollope travelled widely in the later years of his life, to the USA, Australia and South Africa, and published some travel writing as a result of his experiences. He died in London in 1882, and was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery. He was survived by his wife and two children. 'Christmas at Thompson Hall' was first published in 'The Graphic' Christmas number in December 1876. Recording © Bitesized Audio 2022.