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The opening of Ralph the Heir (1871) is marred slightly by a preponderance of Ralph Newtons. One is heir to the estate of Newton Priory and thoroughly unworthy of the honour; the other is his cousin, an affectionate and scholarly type who everyone would prefer to inherit the family wealth. In anticipation of his fortune, Bad Ralph has racked up a considerable debt to his breechesmaker, the ambitious Mr Neefit. Eyeing the prospect of social advantage, Neefit pledges to write off the debt and provide a £20,000 dowry if Ralph agrees to marry his daughter, Polly. He waxes lyrical as to her advantages and youthful charms: “There ain’t no mistake there, Mr. Newton; no paint; no Madame Rachel; no made beautiful for ever! It’s human nature what you see there, Mr. Newton.” Poor Polly has no interest in her impecunious suitor, protesting: “I’m not going to be given away, you know, like a birthday present, out of a shop. There’s nobody can give me away, father,–only myself.” She knows her place, and her own mind. ...

Sir Harry Hotspur of Humblethwaite (1871) is Trollope’s most comfortless novel, and also the one with the most alliterative title (almost impossible to pronounce reliably after half a glass of sherry). Following the tragic death of his son and heir, Sir Harry Hotspur is forced to rewrite his will. The glorious title must go to his cousin, a useless article called George Hotspur, but Sir Henry is determined that he shouldn’t also get his wealth. He bequeaths all his property to daughter Emily, hoping that she will marry a decent chap prepared to take his wife’s name. Alas, Emily is a feisty minx who refuses to marry the chinless wonder her parents have chosen, instead falling in love with the feckless George. ...

Sheep-farming in the Australian outback might seem like an odd topic for Trollope, an author known best for his forensic analysis of English society. In fact, he spent some time there after his son Fred became a “squatter”. Squatters were settlers who appropriated huge swathes of uncultivated bushland, initially illegally, and later under license from the Crown. Those who possessed the necessary tenacity and acumen could amass immense wealth, enabling them to build flashy houses and emulate the landowning classes of the motherland. Unfortunately, Fred Trollope seems to have suffered a want of pluck and application, and ended up losing thousands of his father’s hard-earned pounds. ...

Imagine an intoxicating narrative with more twists and turns than Downton Abbey (without the red flags), and flashes of M R James, Sarah Waters, and Wilkie Collins. That is what Essie Fox has achieved with her debut novel, The Somnambulist, a story that continues to haunt the reader long after the final page has been reached. Phoebe Turner is a 17-year-old girl living in the East End of London with Maud, her Evangelical Christian mother. Maud has declared implacable war on sin, campaigning for theatres and bars to be closed and an end to all fun. She disapproves of her glamorous sister Cissy who sings on the stage at Wilton’s Music Hall, although Phoebe adores her. When Cissy dies of an overdose, Phoebe is distraught and finds herself trapped in a circumscribed and impoverished world. There is a welcome turn of events when the wealthy and mysterious Nathaniel Samuels offers her a position as companion to his wife. Leaving her old life behind, Phoebe travels to Dinwood Court, the Samuels’ labyrinthine Herefordshire mansion, described disarmingly as an “idyll of peace and perfection, an oasis, an Eden, a heaven on earth.” Lydia, her laudanum-addicted mistress, is a complete recluse with a tendency to sleepwalk and mutter about her troubled past. Phoebe is inexorably drawn into the family’s dark web of lies, gradually uncovering the truth about both them and herself. ...

I must confess to having been initially sceptical at the title’s claim of “worst” husband. Having spent much of the last few years rummaging through historical divorce papers, I know there are many ghastly contenders for that dubious honour. Andrew Robinson Stoney was described by his own father as “the most wretched man I ever knew”, and he was to showcase his ghastliness on Mary Eleanor Bowes, the eighteenth century’s richest heiress (and great-great-great-grandmother of the late Queen Mother). ...

Following his umpteenth divorce, Rod Stewart remarked that he wouldn’t get married again – he would simply find a (presumably blonde) woman he didn’t like very much and give her a house. Reading Maureen Waller’s The English Marriage, I can’t say I blame him. There is very little love to be found in these pages, rather an abundance of violence, infidelity, and fraud. Each chapter focuses on a particular marriage and the outrage it embodied, whether it be wife-sale (yes, Hardy wasn’t making it up), bigamy, or old-fashioned adultery. These stories are interspersed with enlightening extracts from conduct manuals. My favourite of these is clergyman William Gouge’s Domesticall Duties (1622), which decrees that a married woman must maintain “an inward, wife-like fear”. ...

Trollope intended The Struggles of Brown, Jones and Robinson (1870) as “a hit at the present system of advertising”. Unfortunately, his unappreciative audience thought it a flop, with one critic dismissing it as “Thackeray-and-water”. As is often the case, I find myself almost alone in thinking it one of the author’s triumphs. The story charts the rise and fall of a haberdashery business run by the eponymous characters. Brown is pathologically cautious, a situation that repeatedly brings him into conflict with his extravagant and acquisitive partners. To complicate matters further, Robinson determines to win the hand of Brown’s youngest daughter, thereby pitching himself into competition with Brisket the butcher, who is as beefy as his name suggests. Meanwhile, the ambitious Jones seeks to corner the market in stockings and quash Robinson’s more exotic plan to stock monkey muffs (I shall resist the temptation to speculate on that item). ...

It’s hard to read The Landleaguers (1883) without a lump in the throat, as it was to be Trollope’s final novel. My sentimentality quickly vaporised, however, as it’s not one of his finer moments. The eponymous Landleaguers were Irish farmers who resisted eviction and strove to control their own land. Their tactics ranged from withholding rents and labour, through to death threats and flooding of fields. Famously, they also practised ostracism, which became known as Boycotting, after the name of its first victim. As an inveterate conservative (with a small c), and a tendency to be Tebbity, Trollope is highly critical of the Landleaguers’ actions, with the plot subordinate to the expression of his reactionary views. ...

One hundred and fifty years ago today, Queen Victoria and her subjects were plunged into mourning following the untimely demise of the Prince Consort. Albert’s death threw an enormous wet blanket over the social season, with the cancellation of balls, concerts, and soirees. For appearances’ sake, Charles Dickens was obliged to postpone a lucrative series of public readings, which must have really smarted. Those of more modest means that the Inimitable Boz wondered how on earth they would afford to put their families in mourning. Manufacturers, meanwhile, rubbed their hands with glee, greedily anticipating a boost to their profits as the trade in commemorative items and dark-coloured clothing boomed. It’s an ill wind. ...

My reading resolution for 2011 is to finish reading all of Trollope’s 47 novels. The short stories and non-fiction will have to wait ’til next year. Here’s the current tally: Can You Forgive Her? Phineas Finn The Eustace Diamonds Phineas Redux He Knew He Was Right The Way We Live Now Lady Anna Is He Popenjoy? Rachel Ray Linda Tressel Cousin Henry The Vicar of Bullhampton Kept in the Dark Miss Mackenzie The Belton Estate The Claverings The American Senator John Caldigate The Prime Minister The Duke’s Children Ayala’s Angel The Fixed Period Dr Wortle’s School An Old Man’s Love The Warden Barchester Towers Doctor Thorne An Eye for an Eye Framley Parsonage The Small House at Allington The Last Chronicle of Barset Marion Fay Mr Scarborough’s Family Nina Balatka Sir Harry Hotspur of Humblethwaite Harry Heathcote of Gangoil The Struggles of Brown, Jones and Robinson The Golden Lion of Granpère The Macdermots of Ballycloran Ralph the Heir The Three Clerks Orley Farm The Bertrams La Vendée The Kelly’s and the O’Kellys (nearly there!) Castle Richmond (one to go!) The Landleaguers (done it!) 🎉 You can discover my favourites and those I’d happily never read again. ...