Book Review
Jul. 31st, 2024 09:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariThe Prime Minister
by Anthony Trollope
This is the fifth of the Palliser novels. It concerns the marriage and political adventures of two loosely linked families. Plantagenet Palliser and his wife Cora (main characters of the series as a whole) grapple with the duties and privileges as well as the successes and mis-steps of his time as the Prime Minister. Meanwhile, Emily Wharton, daughter of a successful barrister, makes a disastrous marriage to Ferdinand Lopez, who turns out to be an unscrupulous speculator. Things eventually come right in the end for both the Pallisers and the Whartons, but it's a bit of a twisty ride.
So far, The Prime Minister is my least favorite of the Palliser novels. First of all, it's a very socially conservative novel, even for Trollope. The interloper of foreign background does turn out to be the scoundrel people's prejudices make him out to be. When women act against the wishes and judgement of the male authorities in their lives, things go badly. Things work better when everyone does their duty and keeps to their place. In addition, the book is just too long. The story itself is perfectly fine and the characters are interesting, but plot points are dragged out and chewed over more than is necessary, even by 19th century novel standards.
by Anthony Trollope
This is the fifth of the Palliser novels. It concerns the marriage and political adventures of two loosely linked families. Plantagenet Palliser and his wife Cora (main characters of the series as a whole) grapple with the duties and privileges as well as the successes and mis-steps of his time as the Prime Minister. Meanwhile, Emily Wharton, daughter of a successful barrister, makes a disastrous marriage to Ferdinand Lopez, who turns out to be an unscrupulous speculator. Things eventually come right in the end for both the Pallisers and the Whartons, but it's a bit of a twisty ride.
So far, The Prime Minister is my least favorite of the Palliser novels. First of all, it's a very socially conservative novel, even for Trollope. The interloper of foreign background does turn out to be the scoundrel people's prejudices make him out to be. When women act against the wishes and judgement of the male authorities in their lives, things go badly. Things work better when everyone does their duty and keeps to their place. In addition, the book is just too long. The story itself is perfectly fine and the characters are interesting, but plot points are dragged out and chewed over more than is necessary, even by 19th century novel standards.
