In this lively, intimate portrayal of county society Trollope introduces two of his most endearing heroines.

Lilian and Bell Dale live with their mother at the Small house in Allington, near their uncle, who inhabits the adjoining Great house. Pretty, spirited and warm-hearted, they are not short of suitors. Before long Lily has succumbed to the charms of the dashing young swell Alphonse Crosbie, while their cousin Bernard, spurred on by their uncle, proposes to Bell, who promptly rejects him. Crosbie, lured away by the grandeur of high society and the bland attractions of Lady Alexandrina, abandons Lily in favour of a loveless marriage of convenience. Will the unhappy Lily ever fall in love again? Or Bell, so self-contained, let any man near her heart?

Written when Trollope was approaching the height of his popularity The Small House at Allington is the fifth of the Barsetshire Chronicles and the sequel to Framley Parsonage.