From 17th March to 31st March 2025 join Trollope enthusiasts from across the world every second Monday to discuss Dr Wortle’s School as we read it together on Zoom.

Please note that the UK changes from Greenwich Mean Time to British Summer Time on Sunday 30th March.

Professor Deborah Denenholz Morse will give the concluding lecture of our Dr Wortle’s School BIG READ. Professor Deborah Denenholz Morse served as the inaugural Sara E. Nance Eminent Professor of English at William & Mary from 2017 to 2022 and was twice designated a Plumeri Faculty Excellence Scholar, most recently for 2022–2024. In March 2024, she was appointed the NEH Eminent Professor of English.

Deborah is the author of Women in Trollope’s Palliser Novels (1987) and Reforming Trollope: Race, Gender, and Englishness in the Novels of Anthony Trollope (2013). Deborah co-edited The Politics of Gender in the Novels of Anthony Trollope (with Margaret Markwick and Regenia Gagnier, 2009) and The Routledge Research Companion to Anthony Trollope (with Margaret Markwick and Mark Turner, 2016). Her most recent articles on Trollope are “Mourning Glencora” in My Victorian Novel (2020), edited by Annette Federico, and “Handling Private Dramas of Class and Gender in Anthony Trollope’s The Duke’s Children” in Victorian Hands: The Manual Turn in Nineteenth-Century Body Studies (2020), edited by Pete Capuano and Sue Zemka.

Register free for the complete 2025 BIG READ

You only need to register once, you can then attend any of the 2025 BIG READ Zoom meetings without needing to register again. You can cancel your registration at any time.

Monday 31 March – Dr Wortle’s School, Chapters 13 – 24
Monday 14 April – The Claverings, Chapters 1 – 12
Monday 28 April – The Claverings, Chapters 13 – 24
Monday 12 May – The Claverings, Chapters 25 – 36
Monday 26 May – The Claverings, Chapters 37 – 48
Monday 9 June – John Caldigate, Chapters 1 – 13
Monday 23 June – John Caldigate, Chapters 14 – 26
Monday 7 July – John Caldigate, Chapters 27 – 39
Monday 21 July – John Caldigate, Chapters 40 – 52
Monday 4 August – John Caldigate, Chapters 53 – 64
Monday 18 August – The Three Clerks, Chapters 1 – 12
Monday 1 September – The Three Clerks, Chapters 13 – 24
Monday 15 September – The Three Clerks, Chapters 25 – 36
Monday 29 September – The Three Clerks, Chapters 37 – 48
Monday 13 October – Ayala’s Angel, Chapters 1 – 13
Monday 27 October – Ayala’s Angel, Chapters 14 – 26
Monday 10 November – Ayala’s Angel, Chapters 27 – 39
Monday 24 November – Ayala’s Angel, Chapters 40 – 52
Monday 8 December – Ayala’s Angel, Chapters 53 – 64
Monday 22 December – Christmas Stories (tbc)

Click here to register to attend Dr Wortle’s School BIG READ Zoom meetings

We will send you an email with instructions on how to join and the password. Using Zoom is easy, just click on the link in the email and follow the instructions. Please note that you will not be able to join the meeting until 8.00pm (UK time) on the day.

Resources

• Plot summary and character listing for Dr Wortle’s School
• Download Dr Wortle’s School free of charge from Project Gutenberg