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A review by thesummer
The Eustace Diamonds by Anthony Trollope
2.0
I was obsessed with the first two novels in the series and was super excited for this one, but it was kind of a letdown. Obviously, it's Trollope, so even a meh Trollope is stellar for anyone else, but I was expecting more. The main problem is the lack of character movement or development. Lizzie Eustace is a very fun main character at first: scheming, ambitious, clever, beautiful, morally corrupt. But the problem is that that's all she is, and she doesn't change throughout the novel. So she's very fun when first introduced, but by the time we hit the halfway mark in the novel, just as how other characters tire of her superficial charm, so do we. The last half really dragged for me; there's a bit of excitement when the plot picks up for a few chapters, but without character movement, there's not a whole lot moving the book forwards.
The best example of how to write a character like this is Maria Edgeworth's Belinda: Lady Delacour is every bit the Slytherin that Lizzie Eustace is, but the difference is that she does have substance. Throughout the novel, you learn about her backstory and why she is where she is, finding her fun in the shallow world, and it gives her depth. And of course, she has a really excellent redemption arc that manages to give her substance, backbone, and principles without taking away the fun, sly, Slytherin factors.
Lizzie, on the other hand, doesn't change at all. She is shallow, unprincipled, and scheming at the beginning, and so she is at the end. So even though Trollope's writing, humour, and dialogue is better than Edgeworth's, Edgeworth's novel is a much more compelling read.
The other characters don't help any. The whole Frank Greystock thing was such a rehash of last novel's Phineas Finn romantic dilemmas that it wasn't interesting at all. And I guess we could root for Lucy Morris, but tbh I don't particularly care to root for a prissy girl with a pure heart of love. It felt for a bit that we might be getting somewhere with Lucinda, but it really wasn't fleshed out.
The previous two novels did a great job of having women with depth, principles, brains, and character, and aside from the Lady Glencora cameos, we really didn't have anybody like that here to drive the novel forward. Trollope of course satirizes all the characters to no end, and it's fun to read, but the first two novels also had substance, heart, and progress married to and interwoven with the satire. I just didn't feel that here.
The best example of how to write a character like this is Maria Edgeworth's Belinda: Lady Delacour is every bit the Slytherin that Lizzie Eustace is, but the difference is that she does have substance. Throughout the novel, you learn about her backstory and why she is where she is, finding her fun in the shallow world, and it gives her depth. And of course, she has a really excellent redemption arc that manages to give her substance, backbone, and principles without taking away the fun, sly, Slytherin factors.
Lizzie, on the other hand, doesn't change at all. She is shallow, unprincipled, and scheming at the beginning, and so she is at the end.
Spoiler
I get the sense that Trollope thinks we're supposed to be glad that she gets her just desserts at the end by marrying a greaseball of a dude who kind of screws her over, but it's not satisfying at all. It's not like I actually hate her; I just felt pity.The other characters don't help any. The whole Frank Greystock thing was such a rehash of last novel's Phineas Finn romantic dilemmas that it wasn't interesting at all. And I guess we could root for Lucy Morris, but tbh I don't particularly care to root for a prissy girl with a pure heart of love. It felt for a bit that we might be getting somewhere with Lucinda, but it really wasn't fleshed out.
The previous two novels did a great job of having women with depth, principles, brains, and character, and aside from the Lady Glencora cameos, we really didn't have anybody like that here to drive the novel forward. Trollope of course satirizes all the characters to no end, and it's fun to read, but the first two novels also had substance, heart, and progress married to and interwoven with the satire. I just didn't feel that here.