The Small House at Allington

The Small House at Allington is the fifth of Anthony Trollope's "Barsetshire" series of novels, and was first published in 1864. It enjoyed a revival in popularity in the early 1990s when the British prime minister[?], John Major, declared it as his favourite book.

Warning: wikipedia contains spoilers

The plot concerns the Dale family, who live at the "Small House" of the title. Bell (Isabella) and Lily Dale live there with their widowed mother. Lily has for a long time been unsuccessfully wooed by John Eames, an office worker, while Bell is in love with a local doctor. The handsome and personable Adolphus Crosbie proposes to Lily, who accepts him; but he almost immediately deserts her in favour of Lady Alexandrine de Courcy, who is in a position to further his career. Lily accepts her misfortune with patience, and remains single, continuing to reject John Eames as a husband, though retaining his faithful friendship. As with all Trollope's novels, there are many strands to the plot, and numerous minor characters. Plantagenet Palliser (of the "Pallisers[?]" series) appears in some sequences.