5 h 23 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 5 h 23 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
In Bristol’s narrow streets, a young woman seeks her path while a boy poet dreams beyond the city’s walls.
Emma Marshall’s Bristol Bells brings you into Georgian Bristol, a busy port of ships, quays, old churches and merchants growing rich on trade. At its heart is a young woman growing up and facing choices in a world that gives women few ways to earn a living or speak freely.
Alongside her stands Thomas Chatterton, the gifted, proud boy poet who grows up near St Mary Redcliffe. He reads old documents, writes skilled verse and longs for fame beyond Bristol. As his ambition meets the pull of loyalty, Marshall brings a real poet into an invented household.
What you’ll discover
- A city with character Walk through a crowded port where ships, narrow streets and old churches shape the story.
- A young woman’s choices Follow a heroine seeking her own path within the limits of Georgian women’s lives.
- The boy behind the verse Meet Thomas Chatterton as a proud young dreamer drawn to old documents and poetry.
- Ambition beside loyalty Explore the pull between hopes of fame and loyalty in a gently paced historical tale.
- Life around St Mary Redcliffe Discover the Bristol setting where Chatterton grows up, with his family long linked to the church.
Who will love it
This book suits readers who love Georgian England, historical romance and stories of young women finding their feet. It also rewards anyone curious about Bristol or the poet Thomas Chatterton.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Bryda longs for a wider life
- A family secret changes her purpose
- Bristol brings pleasure close to sorrow
- Chatterton's gift carries a deep wound
- Bryda refuses to become the payment
- Hope and danger pull people apart
- Poverty tests character and exposes pride
- Kindness begins by noticing another person
- Contrasting lives reveal what matters
Who’s who
- Bryda PalmerA bookish, brave farm girl who goes to work in Bristol to help her grandfather and who will not marry for money.
- Betty PalmerBryda's younger sister, practical and unselfish, who keeps the farm going and loves her sister without envy.
- Jack HendersonA big, honest farmer's son, apprenticed to a Bristol jeweller, who loves Bryda and would do anything to serve her.
- David BayfieldThe young Squire of Rock House, home from abroad, who holds the family debt and wants Bryda for his wife.
- Thomas ChattertonA sixteen-year-old lawyer's apprentice who writes poems in the old style and dreams of fame in London.
- Mrs LambertBryda's elderly cousin in Dowry Square, fussy and selfish, who wants a capable girl for her lace, pastry and prayer books.
- Mr BarrettA Bristol surgeon and student of local history who is one of Chatterton's kindest friends.
- Peter PalmerThe aging grandfather at Bishop's Farm, proud of his old home and worn down by the debt he signed years ago.
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- Hardcover
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- Large print hardcover
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Bristol Bells in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Bristol Bells
by Emma Marshall · 1892
A farm girl leaves the Mendips for Bristol, where a restless boy poet and a Squire with a claim wait for her.
Medium level2–5 hours to read2 languages
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In short
Can a farm girl carry a whole family's debt to the city? Bryda Palmer, nearly twenty, lives with her grandfather on Bishop's Farm in the Mendip hills, and she hears the Bristol bells ring across the valley.
Bristol Bells at a glance
- Reading time
- About 3 h 5 min2 h 25 min fast, 3 h 40 min slow
- Length
- 43,600 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1892by Emma Marshall
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A farm girl hears the city calling
The story opens on a May evening at Bishop's Farm. Bryda begs her grandfather to let her go to Bristol. An old cousin, Mrs Lambert, wants a bright girl to help in her house, and Bryda believes she is bright enough. Her grandfather will not hear of it.
Her sister Betty is the steady one. She cooks, bakes, mends and soothes the old man's temper. Their aunt thinks Bryda flighty. Bryda has only a few worn books, and she lives in a world of her own making.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1892
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 3 h 25 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Marshall, Emma. Bristol Bells. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/bristol-bells.
Marshall, E. (2026). Bristol bells. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/bristol-bells (Original work published 1892)
Marshall, Emma. Bristol Bells. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/bristol-bells.
@book{marshall2026bristol,
author = {Marshall, Emma},
title = {Bristol Bells},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/bristol-bells},
note = {First published 1892}
}
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What is Bristol Bells about?
It follows Bryda Palmer, a farm girl who goes to Bristol in 1769 to help her grandfather pay a debt. There she meets the boy poet Thomas Chatterton, faces a Squire who wants to marry her, and relies on her friend Jack.
Is Bristol Bells a true story?
Partly. Thomas Chatterton, Mr Barrett, Mr Catcott and Horace Walpole are real people, and the poems and events of Chatterton's life come from biographies. Bryda, Betty, Jack and the Squire are invented by the author.
Who was Thomas Chatterton?
He was a real Bristol poet, born in 1752, who wrote verses in an old-fashioned style and attributed them to a medieval priest named Rowley. In this book he is a lawyer's apprentice of sixteen with a large imagination.
The author
Emma Marshall
1828–1899 · English children's author
Emma Marshall (1828–1899) was an English author who wrote books for children during the nineteenth century. She was born in Norfolk and later lived in Bristol. Her books included historical stories and novels. Bristol Bells was among her works. She died in Clifton, Bristol, in 1899.
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