Rachel Ray

Anthony Trollope

• Publisher: Caelwick Press
• Year: 2026
• Topic: Literature
• eBook ISBN:
  9780032365193
• Subtopic: Classics
• Index: Literature

Both Rachel Ray's mother and elder sister are widows. They live a quiet life in their rural village, under the shadow of the nearby town of Baslehurst. When Rachel's attractions catch the eye of Luke Rowan—a young man recently arrived in town to develop a brewery in which he has a commercial interest—reactions are varied. Her friends are jealous, her pious sister affronted; and Luke's status in the town suffers a blow. While the nature of Rachel's attachment to Mr. Rowan provokes speculation, the affairs of others in the town run their own course. Rachel Ray is a tale of obstacles to the course of true love, told in Anthony Trollope's gentle and well-observed style. Yet Trollope laces this otherwise unexacting narrative with probing explorations of personal morals, religious integrity, and even political prejudice. It might now seem remarkable that this innocuous novel should have been the focus of controversy when it was serialized, but Trollope's capacity to display the potentially hypocritical elements in Christian morality drew the ire of certain prominent ministers. If anything, the controversy only fueled its commercial success after it was published in a single volume. Since then, its charms have won for it a continuing readership, appreciative of the deft and delicate strokes with which Trollope depicts a few moments in the life of a Devonshire town. Anthony Trollope (died 1882) was one of the most distinguished authors of the Victorian age. Their work has endured across generations and continues to be read and studied worldwide. As a work of classic literary fiction, Rachel Ray exemplifies the narrative craft and social insight that defined great storytelling of its era. Literary fiction of this period was characterized by careful attention to character psychology, social milieu, and the moral questions that animated public discourse.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Table of Contents
• Chapitre 1
• The Ray Family
• The Young Man From The Brewery
• The Arm In The Clouds
• What Shall Be Done About It?
• Mr. Comfort Gives His Advice
• Preparations For Mrs. Tappitt’s Party
• An Account Of Mrs. Tappitt’s Ball—Commenced
• An Account Of Mrs. Tappitt’s Ball—Concluded
• Mr. Prong At Home
• Luke Rowan declares his plans as to the brewery.
• Luke Rowan takes his tea quite like a steady young man.
• Rachel Ray Thinks “She Does Like Him.”
• Mr. Tappitt In His Counting-House
• Luke rowan pays a second visit to bragg’s end.
• Maternal Eloquence
• Rachel Ray’s First Love-Letter
• Electioneering
• Dr. Harford
• Mr. Comfort Calls At The Cottage
• Showing What Rachel Ray Thought
• Mrs. Ray goes to exeter, and meets a friend.
• Domestic Politics At The Brewery
• Mrs. Ray’s Penitence
• The Election At Baslehurst
• The Baslehurst Gazette
• Cornbury Grange
• In which the question of the brewery is settled.
• What Took Place At Bragg’s End Farm
• Mrs. Prime Reads Her Recantation
• Conclusion