A review by bazayas
Rachel Ray by Anthony Trollope

funny lighthearted slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Naive small-town girl Rachel Ray finds herself with a handsome suitor from the city, Luke Rowan, and the two lovers are troubled by those who oppose their union: Luke’s bitter business partner and his wife who would have Luke marry one of their daughters; Rachel’s conservative older sister who thinks Luke a cad; Luke’s own mother who thinks Rachel is beneath him. 

How is this not YA? The close perspective of 19-year-old Rachel felt myopic at times and reminded me of how YA frustrates me often. And that’s a compliment - Trollope is able to burrow into his characters’ heads and envelop us in their biases. It’s laugh out loud funny - the ironic humor took me by surprise and I laughed aloud on the train more than once. A lot of the commentary on Christian hypocrisy is relevant to those of us who lived through purity culture - some things never change!

CW/TW:

antisemitism; classism; misogyny

For fans of:

Jane Austen but going harder on class issues; “North and South”; period piece YA; ironic humor where the narration says things the author doesn’t mean purely for a laugh