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4.09 AVERAGE
4.09 AVERAGE
Probably closer to 4.5 stars but I just enjoyed the hell out of this and even though the last couple of chapters felt like a very long windup, I can't say I minded particularly. I like spending time with Trollope's people, I like that he doesn't spend his time trying to set up elaborate plot twists (in fact, quite the opposite, the moment that you think a plot twist is about to happen, he announces the result and makes the whole question of twists null and void). Which lets us concentrate on how they do what they do and why they do what they do in a manner that I find both soothing and fascinating in equal turns.
I did not like this book as much as other his other book.s I found it slow and contrived.
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Classism
Minor: Death, Death of parent
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
See my review here:
http://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2016/11/17/day-997-doctor-thorne/
http://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2016/11/17/day-997-doctor-thorne/
Frank must marry money. And so goes the exploration of the marriage market set out, sometimes in startling detail, as the duty of the heir of the squire of Gresham suffering financial difficulties. I think I agree with the author that the hero of this novel is Doctor Thorne rather than Frank, although I guess such an omnicient author really ought to know best... The satirical look was often really amusing and it is a good read despite the many pages.
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
If there was a drinking game for every time someone in the Greshams' family said "marry money", we'd be drunk in every single chapter!
The premise of the story involves sundered lovers - Frank the squire's son and Mary Thorne, illegitimate daughter and niece of the doctor of Greshamsbury, who's also a Thorne of Ullathorne. Frank has come of age but cannot marry the girl he loves because a) She's not of "proper" birth b) She has no fortune at all. She's lovely, bright, well behaved and aware of her lack of lineage.
Right from the day he comes of age, Frank's mother Lady Arabella insists he marry a rich girl. To her it doesn't matter if she's not born high as long as she brings in enough dowry to save the Greshams from utter financial ruin. His father, the squire had to sell off large properties belonging to the "first family of Greshamsbury", and Trollope slyly brings notice to the fact that damning your family into high debt must be acceptable because you could stand to bring about more money by marrying rich.
Frank frequently battles his family with the righteous logic that money shouldn't buy high birth, since that's the metric they pester him with constantly but therein lies the double standard, that marriage to a woman of lesser birth is fine as long as she has enough money to erase her background. But in no case do they accept his decision to marry Mary Thorne, his mother going as far as to ban her daughters from meeting her anywhere. She even refuses to allow Dr Thorne to continue the treatment of her breast cancer because he wouldn't stop the lovers from loving each other. Also, it is very rare for a woman's disease to find even a mention in Victorian writing, so Trollope should get props for this!
Dr Thorne is an intelligent, wise uncle; he doesn't try to influence the lovers by giving any kind of opinion either way, because right from the start the reader is informed that Mary is his brother's child; she's rightfully a Thorne but her mother was from a working class family from the village who bore her as a result as a brief and fatal momentary affair. So her birth is not so much an issue as is her lack of dowry, especially in this case where the Greshams simply cannot afford to marry without money. (Take another shot).
Trollope writes very well of the double standards when it comes to marriage. The parents' concern about the lovers not finding an income to live upon is valid, but that doesn't deter Frank, he steadfast and committed to marrying none but Mary.
Trollope's stories always have a secondary track of characters that are entwined with the first - here it's Mary's maternal uncle Sir Roger Scatcherd whose self made fortune plays a huge role in bringing the story to its head. Most of the main characters are not privy to the family secret which is the plot motif!
Again, it was intensely delightful to listen to the Audible narration by Timothy West - he evokes snooty countesses, rich spoiled sons, earnest women and youthful lovers in an exceptional manner.
I'm now aware that there's a TV series on this book with Tom Hollander as the eponymous Dr Thorne and Alison Brie as a smart female character (with loads of money made from the manufacture of the Ointment of Lebanon) who refuses to get married to just anyone who asks her. This type of character is a frequent repeat in Trollope's works - the woman with keen understanding, some form of agency, wise in her ways and thankfully supporting love instead of blind adherence to societal norms.
A very good read with humour and sound observation.
This was the third novel in the Barchester novels, there are some recurring characters but they find a very brief mention here.
The premise of the story involves sundered lovers - Frank the squire's son and Mary Thorne, illegitimate daughter and niece of the doctor of Greshamsbury, who's also a Thorne of Ullathorne. Frank has come of age but cannot marry the girl he loves because a) She's not of "proper" birth b) She has no fortune at all. She's lovely, bright, well behaved and aware of her lack of lineage.
Right from the day he comes of age, Frank's mother Lady Arabella insists he marry a rich girl. To her it doesn't matter if she's not born high as long as she brings in enough dowry to save the Greshams from utter financial ruin. His father, the squire had to sell off large properties belonging to the "first family of Greshamsbury", and Trollope slyly brings notice to the fact that damning your family into high debt must be acceptable because you could stand to bring about more money by marrying rich.
Frank frequently battles his family with the righteous logic that money shouldn't buy high birth, since that's the metric they pester him with constantly but therein lies the double standard, that marriage to a woman of lesser birth is fine as long as she has enough money to erase her background. But in no case do they accept his decision to marry Mary Thorne, his mother going as far as to ban her daughters from meeting her anywhere. She even refuses to allow Dr Thorne to continue the treatment of her breast cancer because he wouldn't stop the lovers from loving each other. Also, it is very rare for a woman's disease to find even a mention in Victorian writing, so Trollope should get props for this!
Dr Thorne is an intelligent, wise uncle; he doesn't try to influence the lovers by giving any kind of opinion either way, because right from the start the reader is informed that Mary is his brother's child; she's rightfully a Thorne but her mother was from a working class family from the village who bore her as a result as a brief and fatal momentary affair. So her birth is not so much an issue as is her lack of dowry, especially in this case where the Greshams simply cannot afford to marry without money. (Take another shot).
Trollope writes very well of the double standards when it comes to marriage. The parents' concern about the lovers not finding an income to live upon is valid, but that doesn't deter Frank, he steadfast and committed to marrying none but Mary.
Trollope's stories always have a secondary track of characters that are entwined with the first - here it's Mary's maternal uncle Sir Roger Scatcherd whose self made fortune plays a huge role in bringing the story to its head. Most of the main characters are not privy to the family secret which is the plot motif!
Again, it was intensely delightful to listen to the Audible narration by Timothy West - he evokes snooty countesses, rich spoiled sons, earnest women and youthful lovers in an exceptional manner.
I'm now aware that there's a TV series on this book with Tom Hollander as the eponymous Dr Thorne and Alison Brie as a smart female character (with loads of money made from the manufacture of the Ointment of Lebanon) who refuses to get married to just anyone who asks her. This type of character is a frequent repeat in Trollope's works - the woman with keen understanding, some form of agency, wise in her ways and thankfully supporting love instead of blind adherence to societal norms.
A very good read with humour and sound observation.
This was the third novel in the Barchester novels, there are some recurring characters but they find a very brief mention here.