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The fifth of the Barsetshire Chronicles and sequel to Framely Parsonage, The Small House at Allington (1864) introduces Lily Dale, Trollope's most admired heroine, and recounts the tale of her love for the ambitious, self-seeking Crosbie. Crushed by his faithlessness, she tries unsuccessfully to conceal her grief and, despite the deserving attentions of her honest suitor Johnny Eames, sentences herself to a life of spinsterhood. Critical reception of the novel was among the most favourable Trollope ever received. His analysis of the psychological grip of love, and the complexity of the inner lives of his men and women, is masterful; yet he is equally compelling when, with customary irony and precision, he draws upon a characteristic theme - the invasion of the country side by the disruptive and irresponsible city - to create a vivid picture of the changes occurring in mid-nineteenth-century England.
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