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The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope

Anthony Trollope’s *The Way We Live Now* is a mirror held to the gilded excesses of Victorian society, a work that lingers not for its plot’s twists but for…

The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope
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Runtime: 33 hr 51 min · Watch the full audiobook on YouTube · Subscribe to Ion Books

Anthony Trollope’s *The Way We Live Now* is a mirror held to the gilded excesses of Victorian society, a work that lingers not for its plot’s twists but for the quiet resonance of its moral inquiry. Published in 1875, it emerged from a world Trollope knew intimately: a man of modest means navigating the tides of fortune, he crafted a novel where ambition and greed are both spectacle and scourge. The rise of Augustus Melmotte, a financier of dubious origins who manipulates London’s elite, serves as the novel’s axis, around which orbit aristocrats, idealists, and swindlers alike. Trollope, a master of the social novel, wove these lives into a tapestry of interconnected fates, each thread fraying under the weight of moral compromise. This is not a tale of villains alone but of a system that elevates fraud as a currency of power. Trollope, who once toiled in the British postal service and saw firsthand the machinery of institutional greed, wrote with a clear-eyed precision that transcends his era. The novel’s 100 chapters unfold with the patience of a man who understood that character, not chaos, is the true engine of drama.

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Public domain & narration

The Way We Live Now was first published in 1875. Works first published before 1931 are in the public domain in the United States, so the text is free to read, share and adapt. The edition shown here comes from Project Gutenberg, which publishes only books that are in the US public domain.

The narration is the LibriVox recording read by Debra Lynn. LibriVox volunteers dedicate their recordings to the public domain.

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Chapters

  1. Chapter 1: Ch. 001 Three Editors (21:48) · watch
  2. Chapter 2: Ch. 002 The Carbury Family (21:49) · watch
  3. Chapter 3: Ch. 003 The Beargarden (16:01) · watch
  4. Chapter 4: Ch. 004 Madame Melmotte's Ball (31:38) · watch
  5. Chapter 5: Ch. 005 After The Ball (8:18) · watch
  6. Chapter 6: Ch. 006 Roger Carbury And Paul Montague (25:11) · watch
  7. Chapter 7: Ch. 007 Mentor (19:22) · watch
  8. Chapter 8: Ch. 008 Love-Sick (17:00) · watch
  9. Chapter 9: Ch. 009 The Great Railway To Vera Cruz (18:48) · watch
  10. Chapter 10: Ch. 010 Mr Fisker's Success (25:22) · watch
  11. Chapter 11: Ch. 011 Lady Carbury At Home (27:32) · watch
  12. Chapter 12: Ch. 012 Sir Felix In His Mother's House (13:19) · watch
  13. Chapter 13: Ch. 013 The Longestaffes (22:47) · watch
  14. Chapter 14: Ch. 014 Carbury Manor (19:25) · watch
  15. Chapter 15: Ch. 015 'You Should Remember That I Am His Mother' (20:59) · watch
  16. Chapter 16: Ch. 016 The Bishop And The Priest (27:09) · watch
  17. Chapter 17: Ch. 017 Marie Melmotte Hears A Love Tale (25:37) · watch
  18. Chapter 18: Ch. 018 Ruby Ruggles Hears A Love Tale (13:05) · watch
  19. Chapter 19: Ch. 019 Hetta Carbury Hears A Love Tale (25:06) · watch
  20. Chapter 20: Ch. 020 Lady Pomona's Dinner Party (13:00) · watch
  21. Chapter 21: Ch. 021 Everybody Goes To Them (27:04) · watch
  22. Chapter 22: Ch. 022 Lord Nidderdale's Morality (17:01) · watch
  23. Chapter 23: Ch. 023 'Yes I'm A Baronet' (22:52) · watch
  24. Chapter 24: Ch. 024 Miles Grendall's Triumph (19:19) · watch
  25. Chapter 25: Ch. 025 In Grosvenor Square (14:22) · watch
  26. Chapter 26: Ch. 026 Mrs Hurtle (27:40) · watch
  27. Chapter 27: Ch. 027 Mrs Hurtle Goes To The Play (24:46) · watch
  28. Chapter 28: Ch. 028 Dolly Longestaffe Goes Into The City (12:20) · watch
  29. Chapter 29: Ch. 029 Miss Melmotte's Courage (17:08) · watch
  30. Chapter 30: Ch. 030 Mr Melmotte's Promise (22:21) · watch
  31. Chapter 31: Ch. 031 Mr Broune Has Made Up His Mind (20:15) · watch
  32. Chapter 32: Ch. 032 Lady Monogram (19:41) · watch
  33. Chapter 33: Ch. 033 John Crumb (27:43) · watch
  34. Chapter 34: Ch. 034 Ruby Ruggles Obeys Her Grandfather (12:38) · watch
  35. Chapter 35: Ch. 035 Melmotte's Glory (24:46) · watch
  36. Chapter 36: Ch. 036 Mr Broune's Perils (13:51) · watch
  37. Chapter 37: Ch. 037 The Board-Room (28:34) · watch
  38. Chapter 38: Ch. 038 Paul Montague's Troubles (19:54) · watch
  39. Chapter 39: Ch. 039 'I Do Love Him' (27:49) · watch
  40. Chapter 40: Ch. 040 'Unanimity Is The Very Soul Of These Things' (12:47) · watch
  41. Chapter 41: Ch. 041 All Prepared (12:39) · watch
  42. Chapter 42: Ch. 042 'Can You Be Ready In Ten Minutes?' (22:37) · watch
  43. Chapter 43: Ch. 043 The City Road (26:26) · watch
  44. Chapter 44: Ch. 044 The Coming Election (21:45) · watch
  45. Chapter 45: Ch. 045 Mr Melmotte Is Pressed For Time (18:52) · watch
  46. Chapter 46: Ch. 046 Roger Carbury And His Two Friends (20:59) · watch
  47. Chapter 47: Ch. 047 Mrs Hurtle At Lowestoft (28:09) · watch
  48. Chapter 48: Ch. 048 Ruby A Prisoner (12:19) · watch
  49. Chapter 49: Ch. 049 Sir Felix Makes Himself Ready (19:33) · watch
  50. Chapter 50: Ch. 050 The Journey To Liverpool (20:58) · watch
  51. Chapter 51: Ch. 051 Which Shall It Be? (21:15) · watch
  52. Chapter 52: Ch. 052 The Results Of Love And Wine (18:07) · watch
  53. Chapter 53: Ch. 053 A Day In The City (24:00) · watch
  54. Chapter 54: Ch. 054 The India Office (26:00) · watch
  55. Chapter 55: Ch. 055 Clerical Charities (13:17) · watch
  56. Chapter 56: Ch. 056 Father Barham Visits London (20:31) · watch
  57. Chapter 57: Ch. 057 Lord Nidderdale Tries His Hand Again (21:44) · watch
  58. Chapter 58: Ch. 058 Mr Squercum Is Employed (21:10) · watch
  59. Chapter 59: Ch. 059 The Dinner (21:21) · watch
  60. Chapter 60: Ch. 060 Miss Longestaffe's Lover (19:45) · watch
  61. Chapter 61: Ch. 061 Lady Monogram Prepares For The Party (11:29) · watch
  62. Chapter 62: Ch. 062 The Party (27:24) · watch
  63. Chapter 63: Ch. 063 Mr Melmotte On The Day Of The Election (18:49) · watch
  64. Chapter 64: Ch. 064 The Election (22:01) · watch
  65. Chapter 65: Ch. 065 Miss Longestaffe Writes Home (17:16) · watch
  66. Chapter 66: Ch. 066 'So Shall Be My Enmity' (19:02) · watch
  67. Chapter 67: Ch. 067 Sir Felix Protects His Sister (16:53) · watch
  68. Chapter 68: Ch. 068 Miss Melmotte Declares Her Purpose (17:05) · watch
  69. Chapter 69: Ch. 069 Melmotte In Parliament (26:03) · watch
  70. Chapter 70: Ch. 070 Sir Felix Meddles With Many Matters (19:17) · watch
  71. Chapter 71: Ch. 071 John Crumb Falls Into Trouble (19:16) · watch
  72. Chapter 72: Ch. 072 'Ask Himself' (24:19) · watch
  73. Chapter 73: Ch. 073 Marie's Fortune (16:45) · watch
  74. Chapter 74: Ch. 074 Melmotte Makes A Friend (19:32) · watch
  75. Chapter 75: Ch. 075 In Bruton Street (21:01) · watch
  76. Chapter 76: Ch. 076 Hetta And Her Lover (22:13) · watch
  77. Chapter 77: Ch. 077 Another Scene In Bruton Street (21:56) · watch
  78. Chapter 78: Ch. 078 Miss Longestaffe Again At Caversham (16:31) · watch
  79. Chapter 79: Ch. 079 The Brehgert Correspondence (24:08) · watch
  80. Chapter 80: Ch. 080 Ruby Prepares For Service (15:38) · watch
  81. Chapter 81: Ch. 081 Mr Cohenlupe Leaves London (25:45) · watch
  82. Chapter 82: Ch. 082 Marie's Perseverance (23:01) · watch
  83. Chapter 83: Ch. 083 Melmotte Again At The House (20:39) · watch
  84. Chapter 84: Ch. 084 Paul Montague's Vindication (20:22) · watch
  85. Chapter 85: Ch. 085 Breakfast In Berkeley Square (16:08) · watch
  86. Chapter 86: Ch. 086 The Meeting In Bruton Street (19:30) · watch
  87. Chapter 87: Ch. 087 Down At Carbury (19:15) · watch
  88. Chapter 88: Ch. 088 The Inquest (17:57) · watch
  89. Chapter 89: Ch. 089 'The Wheel Of Fortune' (24:38) · watch
  90. Chapter 90: Ch. 090 Hetta's Sorrow (15:57) · watch
  91. Chapter 91: Ch. 091 The Rivals (21:12) · watch
  92. Chapter 92: Ch. 092 Hamilton K. Fisker Again (20:43) · watch
  93. Chapter 93: Ch. 093 A True Lover (19:26) · watch
  94. Chapter 94: Ch. 094 John Crumb's Victory (18:18) · watch
  95. Chapter 95: Ch. 095 The Longestaffe Marriages (17:25) · watch
  96. Chapter 96: Ch. 096 Where 'The Wild Asses Quench Their Thirst' (19:35) · watch
  97. Chapter 97: Ch. 097 Mrs Hurtle's Fate (20:17) · watch
  98. Chapter 98: Ch. 098 Marie Melmotte's Fate (18:55) · watch
  99. Chapter 99: Ch. 099 Lady Carbury And Mr Broune (19:15) · watch
  100. Chapter 100: Ch. 100 Down In Suffolk (18:14) · watch

Full text

This work is too long to show on one page. Read it on Project Gutenberg · download ebook.txt

Sources

Raw pipeline data (admin)