Anthony Trollope

Anthony Trollope was a giant of Victorian letters whose works are still read avidly today. Now, in what is surely the definitive biography, the world's leading expert on Trollope provides an amusing, insightful, and authoritative portrait of this remarkable figure. N. John Hall writes with an unparalleled knowledge of his subject--he is the general editor of the 62-volume Selected Works of Anthony Trollope, and the editor of Letters of Anthony Trollope, which Victoria Glendinning (herself a Trollopian) suggested in The Spectator "already constitutes a biography by other means" simply by virtue of its "brilliant footnotes." In this volume, Hall draws on Trollope's works themselves, as well as all pertinent historical evidence, and interweaves Trollope's public and social life--as a civil servant, devoted hunter, and extensive traveler--with lucid accounts of his writing. Starting with Trollope's early days on the family farm and at the famous Harrow School (studying with Byron's former tutor), we learn of Trollope's marriage, his politics (Hall calls him a "conservative liberal"), his career at the Post Office, and his last decade (which gets full treatment, although many have ignored it). We trace his initial attempts at writing (his first three novels were resounding failures), and follow his eventual popular success (beginning with The Warden and Barchester Towers--the latter of which, Hall shows, boasts Trollope's rich comic dialogue and distinctive characterization). In Hall's telling, Trollope's life almost approaches that of his novels, as when we watch him swoop down into a small village on his horse to interview the surprised residents about their mail service. (Trollope once claimed that his life's ambition was "to cover the country with rural letter carriers.") Trollope's legendary prolific output--nearly seventy books in a thirty-five year career--attests to the rigor of his writing schedule. Every morning, he would produce a certain number of words (recording his output in a ledger he devised for the purpose), and then head off to work. To increase his efficiency he took to writing on trains (for which he designed a special writing tablet), and later had carpenters build him desks in his steamer cabins during ocean crossings. And, as Hall points out, Trollope was not simply a prodigious writer, but also more of a scholar than has been recognized. Nevertheless, his genius lay especially in his comic sensibility, and in the care and judgment of his writing (despite the fact that he almost never rewrote a line). Hall's complex, but sharply focused, narrative portrays this daunting figure in vivid detail, combining humor with subtle insight into a mysterious personality. Those who have enjoyed the Barsetshire chronicles or the Palliser novels, and who want to know more about one of the greats of 19th-century literature, will be richly rewarded by this comprehensive biography.

The author of forty-seven novels, plus travel books, biographies, essays, and critical works, Anthony Trollope (1815-1882) was the most prolific of the great Victorian writers. Now The Oxford Reader's Companion to Trollope brings together thirty-six leading scholars who provide an accessible, authoritative, and wide-ranging reference work on this important literary figure. Here, in more than 500 A-Z entries, readers will find a wealth of information on Trollope's life, his works, and the historical and social context in which he lived. Trollope's writing career spanned almost half a century and his circle of friends reads like a who's who of Victorian England--and it's all captured here. The contributors offer illuminating essays on Trollope's major works--including the famed Barsetshire Novels and Paliser Novels--as well as on the many lesser known but no less accomplished books. The volume also examines Trollope's personal life, offering fresh information on such well documented aspects as his work at the Post Office and his famous circle of friends. Moreover, the contributors provide the most recent findings on aspects of Trollope's career only recently addressed by scholars: his work as a biographer and journalist, the importance of his extensive travels abroad, and the astonishing reappraisal of his work over the last few decades. And the Companion includes a chronology of Trollope's life, a family tree, maps, a thematic overview, and an extensive bibliography. Packed with information based on the most current research, this attractively illustrated volume provides an unparalleled guide to one of the great nineteenth-century writers. It belongs on the shelf of everyone who loves English literature.

Widely regarded as one of Trollope's most successful later novels, He Knew He Was Right is a study of marriage and of sexual relationships cast against a background of agitation for women's rights.

Phineas, a young barrister, catches the eye of Lord Tulla and is elected to Parliament for the family seat of Loughshane. He wins friends on all sides and is admitted to high society where he falls in love, but his lady must marry another.

In this world of bribes and vendettas, swindling and suicide, in which heiresses are won like gambling stakes, Trollope's characters embody all the vices: Lady Carbury, a 43-year-old coquette, 'false from head to foot'; her son Felix, with the 'instincts of a horse, not approaching the higher sympathies of a dog'; and Melmotte, the colossal figure who dominates the book, a 'horrid, big, rich scoundrel...a bloated swindler...a vile city ruffian'.