The Trumpet-Major
In a Wessex village during the Napoleonic invasion scare, the gentle miller’s son who serves as the local trumpet-major loves a spirited young woman courted by several rivals, while England braces for a French landing that may never come. Lighter and warmer than Hardy’s tragedies, this historical romance blends comedy, tender feeling, and vivid period detail of a countryside on a war footing. Charming and gently ironic, The Trumpet-Major evokes a bygone rural England shadowed by distant great events. A delightful and affectionate novel, it shows Hardy’s lighter touch while retaining his deep feeling for the land, the past, and the quiet dramas of ordinary hearts.
About the Author
Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) was an English novelist and poet whose fiction, set in a half-imagined Wessex, probed fate, class, and the constraints of Victorian society. His major novels are cornerstones of English literature.
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Listen to The Trumpet-Major Audiobook Free
Listen to The Trumpet-Major by Thomas Hardy free online. The full audiobook (11 hr 48 min, 42 chapters, read by volunteer narrators) streams free on this page.
The Trumpet-Major (1880) is a public domain work.
| # | Chapter | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chapter 00 - Preface | 4:14 | |
| 2 | Chapter 01 - What Was Seen From the Window Overlooking the Down | 20:51 | |
| 3 | Chapter 02 - Somebody Knocks and Comes In | 18:06 | |
| 4 | Chapter 03 - The Mill Becomes an Important Centre of Operations | 17:28 | |
| 5 | Chapter 04 - Who Were Present at the Miller's Little Entertainment | 7:17 | |
| 6 | Chapter 05 - The Song and the Stranger | 16:52 | |
| 7 | Chapter 06 - Old Mr. Derriman of Oxwell Hall | 24:00 | |
| 8 | Chapter 07 - How They Talked in the Pastures | 8:13 | |
| 9 | Chapter 08 - Anne Makes a Circuit of the the Camp | 15:13 | |
| 10 | Chapter 09 - Anne is Kindly Fetched by the Trumpet-Major | 28:19 | |
| 11 | Chapter 10 - The Matchmaking Virtues of a Double Garden | 15:42 | |
| 12 | Chapter 11 - Our People Are Affected by the Presence of Royalty | 20:56 | |
| 13 | Chapter 12 - How Everybody Great and Small Climbed... | 14:48 | |
| 14 | Chapter 13 - The Conversation in the Crowd | 12:20 | |
| 15 | Chapter 14 - Later in the Eve. of the Same Day | 9:15 | |
| 16 | Chapter 15 - 'Captain' Bob Loveday of the Merchant Service | 22:34 | |
| 17 | Chapter 16 - They Make Ready for the Illustrious Stranger | 22:52 | |
| 18 | Chapter 17 - Two Fainting Fits and a Bewilderment | 15:35 | |
| 19 | Chapter 18 - The Night After the Arrival | 13:21 | |
| 20 | Chapter 19 - Miss Johnson's Behaviour Causes No Little Surprise | 19:05 | |
| 21 | Chapter 20 - How They Lessened the Effect of the Calamity | 19:06 | |
| 22 | Chapter 21 - 'Upon the Hill He Turned' | 12:29 | |
| 23 | Chapter 22 - The Two Households United | 23:18 | |
| 24 | Chapter 23 - Military Preparations on an Extended Scale | 21:28 | |
| 25 | Chapter 24 - A Letter, A Visitor and a Tin Box | 10:09 | |
| 26 | Chapter 25 - Festus Shows His Love | 12:56 | |
| 27 | Chapter 26 - The Alarm | 26:27 | |
| 28 | Chapter 27 - Danger to Anne | 16:55 | |
| 29 | Chapter 28 - Anne Does Wonders | 24:08 | |
| 30 | Chapter 29 - A Dissembler | 9:19 | |
| 31 | Chapter 30 - At The Theatre Royal | 16:33 | |
| 32 | Chapter 31 - Midnight Visitors | 13:46 | |
| 33 | Chapter 32 - Deliverance | 12:01 | |
| 34 | Chapter 33 - A Discovery Turns the Scale | 23:11 | |
| 35 | Chapter 34 - A Speck on the Sea | 23:16 | |
| 36 | Chapter 35 - A Sailor Enters | 16:09 | |
| 37 | Chapter 36 - Derriman Sees Chances | 12:21 | |
| 38 | Chapter 37 - Reaction | 19:53 | |
| 39 | Chapter 38 - A Delicate Situation | 20:36 | |
| 40 | Chapter 39 - Bob Loveday Struts Up and Down | 22:57 | |
| 41 | Chapter 40 - A Call on Business | 15:50 | |
| 42 | Chapter 41 - John Marches into the Night | 8:38 |
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