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A review by david_r_grigg
Dr. Thorne by Anthony Trollope
3.0
My wife and I watched the three-episode dramatisation of Doctor Thorne on ABC television recently, and we found it very unsatisfying, with a too-obvious plot-line, too easily resolved.
But as it’s the third book in Anthony Trollope’s Barchester Chronicles, and having enjoyed the first two volumes so much, I was curious to read the book and see how well or how poorly the television series had handled the story. I’m glad I did so, because the answer is “very badly”. The novel is far more nuanced and interesting and much less schmaltzy-romantic than the dramatisation.
The basic story, though, is the same: Thomas Thorne is an honest, hard-working doctor who has been entrusted with acting as a financial agent by the local squire and his once-wealthy family the Greshams, who have fallen on hard times —well, hard times for those used to living on the fat of the land. They are deeply in debt, primarily to Sir Richard Scatcherd, a self-made millionaire who started life as a humble stone mason.
The main interest in the story arises from Mary, Doctor Thorne’s niece—the illegitimate child of his elder brother. Mary is a quiet, decent young woman whom the doctor has raised as though she were his own daughter. She has been allowed to make friends and spend a good deal of time with the Gresham children as she grows up.
The squire’s heir, Francis (Frank) needs to marry a wealthy wife to save his family from the humiliation of losing all of their property and influence as their debts spiral out of control. But of course, Frank has fallen in love with
2 Mary Thorne, who is both penniless and illegitimate. A mighty battle thus ensues as the family strives to prevent Frank from making an injudicious liaison with Mary. They make every attempt to get him to ‘marry money’, and Mary is pressured from every side to reject Frank’s advances, which she has not encouraged.
The plot thickens as we discover more of Mary’s origins and her relationship to Sir Richard Scatcherd, who is dying of self-induced alcoholic poisoning. Ignorant of this relationship, he makes a will which will bequeath all of his enormous wealth to ‘my sister’s eldest child’ if his own son dies young.
Well, you can see where the story is going. It is told in far too facile a manner in the television series, reducing the plot to a caricature of ‘rich boy falls for poor girl, can’t marry her, poor girl becomes rich, everyone lives happily ever after’. But the book, as I say, is far more nuanced, and depicts the long struggles of conscience which both Mary and her uncle Doctor Thorne have to deal with.
There’s quite a bit of Trollope’s sly satirical humour in the novel, too, as he picks apart the pretensions of his era. Forget the television series, read the book.
But as it’s the third book in Anthony Trollope’s Barchester Chronicles, and having enjoyed the first two volumes so much, I was curious to read the book and see how well or how poorly the television series had handled the story. I’m glad I did so, because the answer is “very badly”. The novel is far more nuanced and interesting and much less schmaltzy-romantic than the dramatisation.
The basic story, though, is the same: Thomas Thorne is an honest, hard-working doctor who has been entrusted with acting as a financial agent by the local squire and his once-wealthy family the Greshams, who have fallen on hard times —well, hard times for those used to living on the fat of the land. They are deeply in debt, primarily to Sir Richard Scatcherd, a self-made millionaire who started life as a humble stone mason.
The main interest in the story arises from Mary, Doctor Thorne’s niece—the illegitimate child of his elder brother. Mary is a quiet, decent young woman whom the doctor has raised as though she were his own daughter. She has been allowed to make friends and spend a good deal of time with the Gresham children as she grows up.
The squire’s heir, Francis (Frank) needs to marry a wealthy wife to save his family from the humiliation of losing all of their property and influence as their debts spiral out of control. But of course, Frank has fallen in love with
2 Mary Thorne, who is both penniless and illegitimate. A mighty battle thus ensues as the family strives to prevent Frank from making an injudicious liaison with Mary. They make every attempt to get him to ‘marry money’, and Mary is pressured from every side to reject Frank’s advances, which she has not encouraged.
The plot thickens as we discover more of Mary’s origins and her relationship to Sir Richard Scatcherd, who is dying of self-induced alcoholic poisoning. Ignorant of this relationship, he makes a will which will bequeath all of his enormous wealth to ‘my sister’s eldest child’ if his own son dies young.
Well, you can see where the story is going. It is told in far too facile a manner in the television series, reducing the plot to a caricature of ‘rich boy falls for poor girl, can’t marry her, poor girl becomes rich, everyone lives happily ever after’. But the book, as I say, is far more nuanced, and depicts the long struggles of conscience which both Mary and her uncle Doctor Thorne have to deal with.
There’s quite a bit of Trollope’s sly satirical humour in the novel, too, as he picks apart the pretensions of his era. Forget the television series, read the book.