14 minSummaryRead it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook editionPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if progress brings more noise than happiness—and the best arguments happen over dinner?
At Gryll Grange, Squire Gryll welcomes friends and neighbours into a country house where old customs still matter. His clever young relation and heiress, Morgana Gryll, draws suitors to the gathering. Conversation, pleasant quarrels and courtship give this gentle comedy its movement, while the company weighs what makes a life worth living.
Mr Falconer retreats to a tower with his books, while Lord Curryfin embraces new science and useful knowledge. Between them stands Dr Opimian, a clergyman with an appetite for dinner, wine and Greek. In Thomas Love Peacock's last novel, steam, newspapers and improvement meet a searching question: what might the rush forward leave behind?
What you’ll discover
- A table full of wit Join clever, eccentric guests whose dinner talk turns disagreement into the pleasure of good company.
- A scholar's quiet tower Meet Mr Falconer, whose life among books keeps the busy modern world at a distance.
- An appetite for argument Enjoy Dr Opimian's learned humour as he defends old ways over food and wine.
- Courtship among the company Follow the gentle romantic currents around Morgana Gryll, a clever heiress who draws admiring suitors.
- Progress put to question Consider whether new knowledge and constant improvement can replace the comforts of settled country life.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy table talk, witty quarrels about wine and progress, old poetry quoted with delight, gentle romance, and cheerful eccentrics who say exactly what they think.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A family name needs an heir
- Homer opens the tower door
- A harmonious home holds Falconer back
- A storm unsettles the quiet life
- Curryfin brings restless energy to company
- A comedy puts progress on trial
- Morgana asks Falconer to choose
- The sisters have hopes beyond the tower
- Shared pleasures offer another measure of life
Who’s who
- Doctor OpimianA hearty, learned vicar who loves Greek verse and good dinners, and cannot resist helping his young friends find happiness.
- Algernon FalconerA young scholar living in a tower with seven foster sisters, who wants a calm life and fears falling in love.
- Morgana GryllThe squire's clever niece, who has sent away every suitor and wants a husband who shares her tastes.
- Squire GryllA genial host who claims descent from Gryllus the pig and wants his family name to continue.
- Lord CurryfinA charming young lord who lectures on fish, loves inventions and wants everyone to like him.
- Miss NiphetA quiet, statue-like singer with deep feelings, who leads the chorus and cares more than she shows.
- Harry HedgerowAn honest farmer's son who is set on marrying Dorothy and gathers six friends to court her sisters.
- Mr MacBorrowdaleA philosophical Scot who reserves dinner for good cheer and prefers convivial nonsense to serious discussion afterward.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout. The eBook opens when the book texts go online.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then USD 0.14 a day in your first year on the yearly plan and USD 0.27 a day after, or USD 0.66 a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Gryll Grange 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.
Gryll Grange
by Thomas Love Peacock · 1860
Doctor Opimian peers over a gate at a tower where seven sisters keep house for one young bachelor.
Medium level2–5 hours to read20 languages
Learn a language with medium classicsSpanishFrenchGermanItalianJapanesePortugueseEnglishHow we measure levels
Excellent
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeRenews every year · Cancel anytimeHow it works
- Read, large type too
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
“Life is too short to learn German”
In short
A clergyman leans on a gate in the New Forest and recites Homer to a round stone tower. A young man inside overhears him and invites him to lunch, served by two pretty maids.
Gryll Grange at a glance
- Reading time
- About 4 h 45 min3 h 50 min fast, 5 h 40 min slow
- Length
- 68,300 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1860by Thomas Love Peacock
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 squire descended from a pig seeks an heir
The book begins at a dinner table, and the table sets the rules. Gregory Gryll, squire of Gryll Grange near the New Forest, lives for good food, good wine and good company. He claims to descend from Gryllus, the man Circe turned into a pig in Greek legend, who argued that beasts live happier lives than men.
Mr Gryll wants his family name to survive, yet he fears a wife would spoil his dinners. So he relies on his orphan niece, Morgana, who runs his house and will inherit it. Her husband must take the Gryll name, and the squire keeps the right to veto him.
Renews every year · Cancel anytime
You looked at
Which edition is right for me
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer. Your place follows you, and you can make the type as big as you like.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1860
- Language
- English
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Peacock, Thomas Love. Gryll Grange. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/gryll-grange.
Peacock, T. L. (2026). Gryll Grange. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/gryll-grange (Original work published 1860)
Peacock, Thomas Love. Gryll Grange. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/gryll-grange.
@book{peacock2026gryll,
author = {Peacock, Thomas Love},
title = {Gryll Grange},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/gryll-grange},
note = {First published 1860}
}
Free gifts
USD 580 in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
USD 170FREE - Every eBookIn 25 languages, any device
USD 120FREE - 15-minute summariesRead in 25 languages
USD 60FREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
USD 60FREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
USD 170FREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Gryll Grange
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is Gryll Grange about?
It follows Doctor Opimian, Squire Gryll and his niece Morgana, who meet Algernon Falconer, a young scholar living in a tower with seven foster sisters. Dinners, a Christmas play and a tangle of courtships fill the story.
Who is Gryllus in Gryll Grange?
Gryllus is a figure from a Greek dialogue by Plutarch, a man changed into a pig by Circe who argues that animals live better than humans. Squire Gryll jokes that he is descended from him.
What does Palestine soup mean in the first chapter?
It is Doctor Opimian's example of a misnomer. The soup is made from Jerusalem artichokes, which are really sunflower roots and have nothing to do with Jerusalem or Palestine.
The author
Thomas Love Peacock
1785–1866 · English satirical novelist and poet
Thomas Love Peacock (1785–1866) was an English novelist and poet. He was born in Weymouth, Dorset, and died at Lower Halliford, Surrey. His novels include Maid Marian (1822) and Gryll Grange (1861). He worked for the East India Company from 1819 until his retirement in 1856.
“Life is too short to learn German”
More by Thomas Love Peacock
See all their booksMore like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
