Orley Farm

Allegedly a favourite among his own works, Anthony Trollope’s ‘Orley Farm’ centres around a contested and mysterious will, in which the late Sir Joseph Mason left Orley Farm to Lucius Mason, the son of his younger second wife, Lady Mason. Years later an aggrieved tenant decides to investigate the veracity of the will and persuades Joseph Mason’s oldest son to contest the contents of it. Secrets surround the legitimacy of the will, and morals and conscience are called into question in this compelling Trollope epic. It was adapted into radio drama for BBC Radio 4 Extra in 2008, starring Ronald Pickup, Samantha Bond and Dan Stevens.

Anthony Trollope (1815 – 1882) was a Victorian writer and author of 47 novels. He also wrote an autobiography, short stories and plays, travel articles, reviews and lectures. A prolific writer, he made no secret of the fact that money was his motivation for writing – an admission which raised eyebrows among his literary contemporaries at the time. The amount of works Trollope authored are testament to his belief in hard work. His first successful novel was The Warden followed by its sequel, Barchester Towers. The Chronicles of Barsetshire are perhaps his most well-known series of novels, though many of his works have been adapted for TV and radio, starring many familiar faces such as Alan Rickman, David Tennant, Bill Nighy and Tom Hollander. Alongside his literary career, Trollope also worked for some time for the Post Office and is credited with the introduction of the iconic post box to Britain. A memorial to Anthony Trollope was unveiled in Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey in 1993.