Anthony Trollope

The first novel of Trollope's Chronicles of Barsetshire series, this work introduces the fictional cathedral town of Barchester and many of its clerical inhabitants. Originally published in 1855, the story centers on Mr. Septimus Harding who has been granted the comfortable wardenship of Hiram's Hospital, an almshouse from a medieval charity of the diocese. Mr. Harding, a fundamentally good man and an excellent musician, conscientiously fulfills his...

This revealing romp through proper society follows three different women who dare to defy Victorian standards. Can You Forgive Her? comically intertwines the stories of three very independent-minded women who each desires to decide her own fate in a world where love comes second to obedience and familial expectations set them apart from their peers. First and foremost is the spirited Alice Vavasor, whose indecision and repeated rejections of two...

An adventurous Irishman sets out to find his fortune among proper English society in this classic novel from Anthony Trollope. Sent to London to become a lawyer, young Phineas Finn proves himself to be a disappointing student but truly gifted in the ways of charm, culture, and fine appearance. It is the discovery of these talents that ultimately leads him to what he believes is his true calling: English Parliament. Through sheer luck and pluck, dashing,...

When it appeared in 1874 "Lady Anna" met with little success, and positively outraged readers, but Trollope staunchly defended the novel. It is a tightly constructed and passionate study of enforced marriage in the world of Radical politics and social inequality. "Lady Anna" records the lifelong attempt of Countess Lovel to justify her claim to her title, and her daughter Anna's legitimacy, after her husband announces that he already has a wife. Anna...

The Palliser family comes to the forefront in a classic novel of politics and propriety from the series that inspired the BBC serial The Pallisers. With the Whigs and Tories at a standstill in attempts to form a working government, a compromise is finally reached, and the hardworking-and hardheaded-Plantagenet Palliser is installed as prime minister. But even as he gets used to the power and privilege of the high office, Palliser slowly and distressingly...

Fred Neville, a young officer in the Hussars, is heir to an earldom, but before taking up his responsibilities resolves to enjoy a year of adventure in Ireland where his regiment is posted. When Fred falls in love and seduces an Irish girl of great beauty and mysterious background, the scene is set for a tragic outcome that far exceeds the adventures Fred had in mind. Written in 1870 but not published until 1879, An Eye For An Eye is arguably the...

The plot revolves around a missing will and Henry’s trial and tribulations as to whether to make it known where the will is located. He is the heir from a previous will and the new missing will gives the estate to Isobel his cousin and the favorite of the uncle who dies. Cousin Henry is hated by everybody as he is a weak character who vacillates between a fantasy of destroying the will or revealing its location and be seen as a good person. However,...

Duty or Honor? Sir Harry is a wealthy man who has a son and a daughter. His fortune seems safe but when his son dies, his family title is under heavy threat. His only descendent is Emily who will inherit the estate yet lose the name Hotspur of Humblethwaite. There is a solution though, if Emily marries his cousin's son, George Hotspur, the family title will survive. Is Sir Harry willing to take this deal?

Mr. Peacocke, a Classical scholar, has come to Broughtonshire with his beautiful American wife to live as a schoolmaster. But when the blackmailing brother of her American first husband appears at the school gates, their dreadful secret is revealed, and the county is scandalized. In the character of Dr. Wortle, the combative but warm-hearted headmaster, who takes the couple's part in the face of general ostracism, there is an element of self-portrait....

Rachel Ray is the younger daughter of a lawyer's widow. She lives with her mother and her widowed sister, Dorothea Prime, in a cottage near Exeter in Devon. Mrs. Ray is amiable but weak, unable to make decisions on her own and ruled by her older daughter. Mrs. Prime is a strict and gloomy Evangelical, persuaded that all worldly joys are impediments to salvation. Rachel is courted by Luke Rowan, a young man from London who has inherited an interest...