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I spoke too soon when agreeing that The Fallen Leaves was Wilkie Collins’ worst novel – Blind Love (1890) is an absolute stinker. To be fair to Collins, he died while writing the novel and therefore had no opportunity to revise it. On his deathbed, Collins asked that his friend Walter Besant finish the novel, providing him with detailed notes and a plot outline. Without the benefit of the preface, it would be quite hard to detect where Collins ends and Besant begins, although the latter’s misogyny and elitism does creep in on occasion. ...

Although readers often struggle with The Warden, their efforts are amply rewarded by Barchester Towers (1857), the next novel in the Barsetshire Chronicles. The story begins with the death of the Bishop, followed by a great deal of manoeuvering amongst those who seek to fill the much-coveted position. The triumphant candidate is Thomas Proudie, although it is his wife who wears the cassock in their household. Mrs Proudie – the “Medea of Barchester” – is perhaps Trollope’s most famous character and one of his finest comic creations. The plot mainly concerns her battles with the ambitious and oleaginous Obadiah Slope, who is determined to bend the Bishop to his will. The confrontations between Mrs Proudie and Slope are brilliantly drawn and sublimely funny. Bishop Proudie himself is a study in inertia and simply defers to whichever of the two rivals happens to be in the ascendant. ...

Originally published in 1901, East of Suez was Alice Perrin’s first collection of short stories. Although now largely forgotten, Perrin was one of the most successful authors of her day, commanding larger advances than the likes of Arnold Bennett (much to his chagrin, it must be said). Perrin tells stories of illicit love and betrayal against a beautifully-drawn backdrop of the mystical east, interweaving the supernatural with exquisite details of her characters’ lives. Unlike many of her contemporaries, Perrin handles Anglo-Indian relations with great sensitivity, showing equal humanity in her portrayal of powerful British officials and their more humble neighbours. Through her writing, she depicts the social complexity of colonial rule, never resorting to stereotypes or simplistic representations of the people or the landscape. ...

The Warden (1855) is the first chronicle of Barset, and Trollope’s fourth novel. Septimus Harding is the eponymous warden with responsibility for Hiram’s Hospital, an almshouse containing a dozen bedesmen, who have clearly exceeded their fixed period. The post of warden is essentially a sinecure, as Harding is required to do virtually nothing in return for his comfortable home and salary of £800. His quiet and predictable existence is disturbed, however, when he unexpectedly becomes the centre of a public controversy. ...

An Old Man’s Love (1884) was Anthony Trollope’s last completed novel, written in the year of his death and published posthumously. The eponymous “old man” is 50-year-old William Whittlestaff, who becomes guardian to Mary Lawrie, the daughter of a friend, and half his age. Against his better judgement, he falls in love with her, actively encouraged by his stickybeak housekeeper, Mrs Baggett. Mary already has a lover, however. ...

Published anonymously in 1935, The Bazalgettes is a spoof Victorian novel by E M Delafield, best known for her highly entertaining Diary of Provincial Lady series. The story is set in the 1870s and centres on young Margaret Mardon, who is so desperate to escape her unhappy family home that she determines to accept the first marriage proposal offered. A suitor appears in the form of 64-year-old widower Sir Charles Bazalgette, who essentially wants a mother for his unruly brood of five children. Margaret accepts his proposal with alacrity, becoming “the third of her husband’s experiments in wedded bliss”. ...

The futuristic utopia depicted in The Fixed Period (1882) is a radical and unexpected departure for Anthony Trollope. Imagine Thomas Pynchon writing a chick lit novel, or Maeve Binchy turning her hand to slash fiction. It’s a radical departure for me, too, as essentially I’ve been tricked into reading science fiction. The story is set in 1980 in the fictional republic of Britannula, created when a group of ex-pats occupy the South Island of New Zealand and claim independence from Great Britain. The 25,000-strong community is led by President John Neverbend, who almost bursts with his own self-importance and civic pride. ...

Ayala’s Angel (1881) is a rather incongruous title for a Trollope novel. However, the story deals very much with his familiar territory of marriage, inheritance, and the position of women. After the death of their imprudent artist father, penniless sisters Ayala and Lucy Dormer are separated and sent to live with different branches of the family. Lucy is taken in by her well-meaning Uncle Reginald, an Admirality clerk struggling to manage on a limited income; Ayala, meanwhile, embarks upon a more comfortable lifestyle with her wealthy aunt, Lady Tringle. Unfortunately, her two unattractive female cousins become jealous of Ayala’s beauty, and their brother Tom falls hopelessly in love with her, and refuses to take no for an answer. ...

‘Wild romance’ is something of a misnomer when applied to the Yelverton case, an 1861 bigamy scandal that transfixed mid-Victorian society. The decidedly unromantic Captain William Yelverton stood trial after having allegedly contracted two ‘irregular’ marriages with Theresa Longworth and then gone on to marry another woman. Although estranged and rebuffed for most of their six-year relationship, Theresa was determined to claim her status as a married woman, initiating trials in England, Ireland and Scotland. Yelverton was equally determined to rid himself of the woman he ‘married’ purely in the interests of consummating their affair. In court it became clear that Yelverton’s motives had been entirely sexual: once he had conquered Theresa, he was no longer interested. When she became pregnant, he encouraged her to get an abortion – a very risky business in the mid-nineteenth century. Initially successful in her legal bid, Theresa lost her case on appeal. She was cast off and notorious, having been through a very public ordeal. Undeterred, she travelled the world, speaking up for wronged women and supporting herself through journalism. Yelverton, meanwhile, was able to return to his new wife and family, later becoming Viscount of Avonmore. ...

WARNING: Contains plot spoilers. Although it saves you the trouble of reading this terrible novel. Do yourself a favour and read Armadale instead. The Fallen Leaves (1879) is generally considered to be Wilkie Collins’ worst novel, and for once I am inclined to agree with the majority view. It’s hard to credit that the masterful creator of The Woman in White and Armadale could also be responsible for such a turgid story. The ‘Fallen Leaves’ of the title are introduced as “The people who have drawn blanks in the lottery of life … the friendless and the lonely, the wounded and the lost,” which alerts the reader to the excessive moralising that ensues. The novel actually starts rather well, with dastardly fortune hunter John Farnaby impregnating his girlfriend, Emma Ronald, thereby forcing her parents to approve their ill-advised marriage. Once he’s got his feet under the table, he arranges for the baby to be kidnapped, thereby escaping the stigma and inconvenience of a child conceived out of wedlock. The girl’s whereabouts remain unknown until the arrival of a Christian Socialist with the unlikely name of Amelius Goldenheart. ...