Book Review
Feb. 2nd, 2011 07:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariFramley Parsonage
by Anthony Trollope
The fourth of the Barsetshire novels concerns vicar Mark Robarts, his wife Fanny, his sister Lucy, and their neighbors and friends Lady Lufton and her son Lord Lufton and their dealings with each other and the wider world. Mark Through and unscrupulous friend, Robarts gets drawn into a financial entanglement that nearly ruins him and Lucy and Lord Lufton fall in love, all of which is, by Victorian standards, rather improper and problematic given the positions of the various characters as regards each other and the rest of society.
I enjoyed this book quite a bit. Trollope has sharp insight leavened with a great deal of warmth and humor towards his characters and their situations. I greatly liked Lucy because she had a sharper wit and more prickly side than is usually seen in heroines of 19th century novels not written by Jane Austen. Although the romantic plot in this book is quite similar to that of Doctor Thorne, it never seemed like a rehash of the earlier novel. In fact, I liked Framley Parsonage's treatment of the situation better, because the characters involved came off as more real and complex, not to mention made of sterner stuff. This part of the narrative also benefited from being set alongside the tale of Mark's financial and social temptations, which was a very sympathetically told story of genteel yet no less affecting near-perdition and redemption. Framley Parsonage also saw the welcome return of a wider scope. I especially enjoyed the reappearance of the Proudies and Grantlys from Barchester Towers, along with all their amusing rivalry and sparring.
by Anthony Trollope
The fourth of the Barsetshire novels concerns vicar Mark Robarts, his wife Fanny, his sister Lucy, and their neighbors and friends Lady Lufton and her son Lord Lufton and their dealings with each other and the wider world. Mark Through and unscrupulous friend, Robarts gets drawn into a financial entanglement that nearly ruins him and Lucy and Lord Lufton fall in love, all of which is, by Victorian standards, rather improper and problematic given the positions of the various characters as regards each other and the rest of society.
I enjoyed this book quite a bit. Trollope has sharp insight leavened with a great deal of warmth and humor towards his characters and their situations. I greatly liked Lucy because she had a sharper wit and more prickly side than is usually seen in heroines of 19th century novels not written by Jane Austen. Although the romantic plot in this book is quite similar to that of Doctor Thorne, it never seemed like a rehash of the earlier novel. In fact, I liked Framley Parsonage's treatment of the situation better, because the characters involved came off as more real and complex, not to mention made of sterner stuff. This part of the narrative also benefited from being set alongside the tale of Mark's financial and social temptations, which was a very sympathetically told story of genteel yet no less affecting near-perdition and redemption. Framley Parsonage also saw the welcome return of a wider scope. I especially enjoyed the reappearance of the Proudies and Grantlys from Barchester Towers, along with all their amusing rivalry and sparring.
