The Trumpet-Major
Author(s): Thomas Hardy
Genre(s): Published 1800 -1900
Narrators: Rebecca Dittman, RobbieRogers, Jack Farrell, Simon Evers, Roger Melin, Alana Jordan, Becca B, Valli, Markman, Aaron Elliott
Number of Chapters: 42
Length: 11 hours and 48 minutes
Language: English
Our heroine, Anne Garland, lives quietly in a rural community deep in the English countryside. However, the arrival of several regiments preparing for an expected invasion brings colour and chaos to the county. A graceful and charming young woman, Anne is pursued by three suitors: John Loveday, the trumpet-major in a British regiment, honest and loyal; his brother Robert, a merchant seaman and womaniser, and Festus Derriman, the cowardly son of the local squire. Set at the time of the Napoleonic wars, this is the author's only historical novel, and unusually for Hardy's books, some of the characters live happily ever after. (Summary adapted from Wikipedia by Cori Samuel.)