The Courtship Of Susan Bell

by Anthony Trollope

""The Courtship of Susan Bell"" is a novel written by the renowned English author Anthony Trollope. It was first published in 1881 and tells the story of a young woman named Susan Bell who lives in a small English village. Susan is a beautiful and intelligent woman, but she is also poor and has few prospects for marriage. However, when a wealthy and eligible bachelor named John Gordon arrives in the village, Susan sees an opportunity to improve her situation.John is immediately taken with Susan's beauty and intelligence, and he begins to court her. Susan, in turn, is attracted to John's wealth and status, but she is also wary of his intentions. As their courtship progresses, Susan must navigate the complexities of class and social expectations, as well as her own feelings and desires.Throughout the novel, Trollope explores themes of love, marriage, and social class, as well as the role of women in Victorian society. He also provides a vivid portrayal of English village life in the 19th century, with its gossip, rivalries, and traditions.""The Courtship of Susan Bell"" is a charming and engaging novel that offers a glimpse into the world of Victorian England and the complexities of love and courtship in that era. Trollope's vivid characters and richly detailed setting make this a must-read for fans of classic literature and historical fiction.It was at the end of the second month when Aaron took another step in advance--a perilous step. Sometimes on evenings he still went on with his drawing for an hour or so; but during three or four evenings he never asked any one to look at what he was doing. On one Friday he sat over his work till late, without any reading or talking at all; so late that at last Mrs. Bell said, ""If you're going to sit much longer, Mr. Dunn, I'll get you to put out the candles.""This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

Genres: Classics, Romance, Short Stories, Fiction

32 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1860

About the author

Anthony Trollope became one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. Some of Trollope's best-loved works, known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, revolve around the imaginary county of Barsetshire; he also wrote penetrating novels on political, social, and gender issues and conflicts of his day.

Trollope has always been a popular novelist. Noted fans have included Sir Alec Guinness (who never travelled without a Trollope novel), former British Prime Ministers Harold Macmillan and Sir John Major, economist John Kenneth Galbraith, American novelists Sue Grafton and Dominick Dunne and soap opera writer Harding Lemay. Trollope's literary reputation dipped somewhat during the last years of his life, but he regained the esteem of critics by the mid-twentieth century.
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_...

Reviews

[Carm9n · Rating 3 out of 5]

My impressions here...
https://carmenyamigos.blogspot.com/20...

[travelsalongmybookshelf · Rating 3 out of 5]

Susan Bell lives with her mother and sister Hetta. Her mother is constantly on the lookout for wolves of the manly kind, alert that they could take a daughter or two. Enter Aaron Dunn, an engineer who lodges one winter and starts his courtship of the titular Susan with a drawing of a bridge.

‘From his drawings Aaron got to his instruments, and before bedtime was teaching Susan how to draw parallel lines.’

She loves it, he draws her a picture, then agonises over how to give it to her. When he does, it is declined by her mother and so he burns it - oh the melodrama! He is allowed to draw her a new one to keep after tears which is accepted.

Returning one day early from work, Aaron makes his declaration of love to Susan

“The truth is just this. I–I love you dearly, with all my heart. I never saw any one I ever thought so beautiful, so nice, and so good;–and what’s more, I never shall. I’m not very good at this sort of thing, I know; but I couldn’t go away from Saratoga for six weeks and not tell you.”

She does not know what to say and he leaves…for six weeks!

There is tooing and froing, but it all ends well. It’s a neat little tale that raised a smile to me, but honestly, victorians! Why they couldn’t just talk to each other properly!

[Peter McGinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This isn’t the first time I have stared reading Trollope (on Kindle) thinking it was one of his lesser novels before realizing it is actually a short story. (One of those “Wait, I am 34% done reading it l ready!?) The story follows a young woman who is gradually wooed by a young man who is a lodger as he works for a nearby railway. Her family wants to be sure he isn’t a wolf with bad intentions before they let the engagement take place. And thereupon the story unfolds. I am not a fan of short stories ever since ai wrote my last one and switched to writing novels. I like the depth of a longer work. But this is a fine story, exactly what it tries to be.

[Ashley Finfrock · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very sweet, cute little novella. I thought it was quite well-written and the characters were very human, flawed and not always certain what to do. I felt this was a rather realistic portrayal of a courtship that could have happened, which I thought was pretty neat.

Makes me curious to read more by this author, if he makes such human characters.

[Juergen John Roscher · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simple and sweet romantic novelette by one of my favorite Victorian authors. Nothing in the story made it a memorable story. I love Trollope's voice and style but not one of his best efforts.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truly amazing how Trollope can mess with my emotions concerning his different characters in such a short amount of time!

[Phil Syphe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short story features a naïve nineteen-year-old called Susan who has led a sheltered life. Her mother is overprotective of her whilst her older sister tends to interfere where she isn’t needed.

Therefore, when they take on a handsome young lodger, who falls in love with Susan, the courting ritual does not run smoothly.

[Ayesha · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very sweet romantic story set in the later 1800s in USA. Simply written and tugs at your heartstrings.

[Kenneth Aubrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

short, too short for my taste, not particular impressed by Trollope yet

[Fiona Brichaut · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't realise this is actually a short novella, so not much to get my teeth into. Renewed my interest in getting back to reading Trollope however.

[Laura]

Free download available at Project Gutenberg.

[Elizzy B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bonita historia de Trollope. Sencilla pero con su sello :)

[Saul Stokar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice long story/short novel. However, not nearly as witty or well-written as Trollope's novels.