The Small House at Allington
by Trollope. I’ve always found this the least satisfying of the Barsetshire novels, defying the conventions of the “happy-ending” romantic novel, but without the Romantic desperation of, say, the Brontes. When her fiancee, Adolphus Crosbie dumps her, as a result of the discovery that her expected inheritance will not be forthcoming, the heroine, Lily Dale, does not, as would be expected in a romantic novel, accept the man who truly loves her, but abandons all hope of marriage. But the introduction to the Folio edition, by Margaret Markwick, supplies the missing motivation, arguing that the real meaning of the text is that Lily had a full sexual relationship with Crosbie, regarding herself as his wife from the moment of their engagement. Hence, in line with romantic convention, she can never marry again.
Of course, Trollope couldn’t say this explicitly, or even in a generally-accepted code, but Markwick suggests that at least some of his Victorian readers would have got the point. By contrast, we expect, nowadays, to have such things spelt out for us.
John Quiggin 
I was off work for two weeks recently recovering from an op and had a wonderful time re-reading Trollope. Part of the interest of ‘The Small House at Allington’ lies in the introduction of Plantagenet Palliser and Lady Glen at the end – wonderful characters central to the Palliser or political novels which are brilliant to read. One of the interesting things about Trollope is the way that one can follow the characters in their development across decades as they recur in various novels. In a sense, this means that any Trollope book by itself doesn’t really satisfy as much until one has read the lot! He also re-works the same situations differently which can be really interesting. This is why there are Trollopian admirers’ societies! But for what it’s worth, I’m plunking for ‘The Last Chronicle of Barsetshire’ as the ‘best’ of the Barsetshire series and ‘Barchester Towers’ as the most enjoyable to read!