Anthony Trollope

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,...

The ever-ambitious Irish rogue Phineas Finn is pulled back into the game of Parliamentary politics in this classic novel from Anthony Trollope. After his beloved wife dies in childbirth, a bored and restless Phineas Finn is compelled to seek out the never-ending war of will and words within the English Parliament. Still considered a promising prospect of the younger generation, he is welcomed back into the fold. Upon his return to London, Phineas...

Written in 1869 with a clear awareness of the time's tension over women's rights, "He Knew He Was Right" is primarily a story about Louis Trevelyan, a young, wealthy, educated Victorian man and his marriage to the beautiful Emily Rowley. They meet in the Mandarin Islands, where Emily's father is governor, but their happiness in wedlock is short-lived. They soon have a son and Louis begins to have strong feelings of jealousy towards Emily. Emily accepts...

Mr. William Whittlestaff was strolling very slowly up and down the long walk at his countryseat in Hampshire, thinking of the contents of a letter, which he held crushed up within his trousers' pocket. He always breakfasted exactly at nine, and the letters were supposed to be brought to him at a quarter past. The postman was really due at his hall-door at a quarter before nine; but though he had lived in the same house for above fifteen years, and...

An Eye for an Eye is a novel by Anthony Trollope written between 13 September and 10 October 1870, but held back from publication until August 1878 when serialization began in the Whitehall Review. Publication in the form of a two volume novel was timed to coincide with the issue of the final serialized episodes in January 1879. It is one of five novels which Trollope set mainly in Ireland, although much of the story takes place at Scroope Manor in...

"Lady Anna" was written in 1871 and first published in 1874. It tells the story of Lady Lovel, whose ambitious marriage to the ill-reputed Earl Lovel left her with a child of questionable legitimacy. When her daughter, Lady Anna, is nearly twenty one, the Earl dies and his fortune is left to a distant nephew. Lady Anna must now decide to marry the young Frederick Lovel for money, or to disregard her mother's vicious meddling and marry her true love...

Originally published in 1871, Ralph the Heir revolves around two men named Ralph. One is the nephew and legal heir of Squire Gregory Newton. The other is the squire's beloved illegitimate son and preferred heir. The fortunes and misfortunes of the actual heir, as he desperately seeks to pay off his debts and marry a woman of good social standing, form the core of the novel. Particularly noteworthy is the book's description of a corrupt Parliamentary...

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 first husband - a reprobate from Louisiana - appears at the school gates, a dreadful secret is revealed and the county is scandalized. Ostracised by the community, the pair seem trapped in a hopeless situation - until the combative but warm-hearted headmaster of the school, Dr Wortle, offers...

"Cousin Henry" was first published in 1879, and has been called one of Trollope's more experimental short novels. Indefer Jones is forced to choose an heir to his estate due to his ailing health. Jones is torn between logic and social conventions to choose the heir, as the obvious candidate happens to be his niece, but tradition dictates that it should be a man that shares his surname. The tale follows the conflict between heirs, and the dramatic...