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A review by ruthiella
The Prime Minister by Anthony Trollope
4.0
Let’s get this out of the way: Trollope was quintessentially a man of his times and surely believed in his heart of hearts that anyone not English was inferior, not to be trusted and probably a greasy Jew to boot. This attitude is not uncommon when one reads a lot of Victorian fiction. I love Trollope’s novels but that he was a chauvinistic xenophobe, there is no question in my mind. The only exception to this that I’ve encountered so far is Madam Max, though I get the feeling he didn’t trust her completely either; at least not at first. I think where Trollope’s real sympathies lie is with upper class women who are trapped by unfair marriage laws and conventions which is something most modern readers can get behind. In some ways The Prime Minister is a novel of two marriages.
Trollope starts off this fifth book in his Palliser series with the villain of the piece, one Ferdinand Lopez. As you can tell from the name, he is not English. One guess how Trollope feels about him. Lopez, who supports himself by speculating on the market, wants to marry Emily Wharton, the daughter of a rich English barrister and sister of his friend, the feckless Everett Wharton. Mr. Wharton is vehemently opposed to this proposal of marriage. Emily has another suitor who her father prefers, a family friend whom she’s known since childhood, Arthur Fletcher. Emily is strong willed and has a penchant for dark, smooth talking men; drama ensues. Emily displays some of stubborn qualities of Lily Dale from The Small House At Allington, which will make the average reader (me) want to slap her.
Parallel to the trials of Emily Wharton are the trials of Plantagenet Palliser and his wife, Lady Glencora (aka the Duke and Duchess of Omnium). When Palliser is put forth as Prime Minister of a coalition government, this new role tests his marriage as it has never been tested since its shaky beginnings when Palliser put his wife before his career and politics and whisked her off to the Continent in Can You Forgive Her? Palliser feels useless as fainant Prime Minister and Glencora wants to help him become the kind of man history books are written about, so she pulls out all the stops to become a social hostess par excellance, using all her charm and spending prodigious amounts of money to promote her husband, even if he barely shows at any of the dinners or balls or country weeks she arranges. If the Duke and Duchess of Omnium were more on the same page, they would be a power couple never seen before in 19th century England. They actually complement one another. But that conflict, he retiring, honest to a fault but thin-skinned and she gregarious, shrewd and thick-skinned is what fuels the novel.
I enjoyed, apart from the two main stories, the glimpses of characters from previous books…not just Mr. and Mrs. Phineas Finn but also there is mention of Lady Carbury and Mr. Broune last seen in The Way We Live Now and Frank Gresham from the Barsetshire Chronicles (specifically Dr. Thorne) has a small role as friend and advisor to Arthur Fletcher.
Trollope starts off this fifth book in his Palliser series with the villain of the piece, one Ferdinand Lopez. As you can tell from the name, he is not English. One guess how Trollope feels about him. Lopez, who supports himself by speculating on the market, wants to marry Emily Wharton, the daughter of a rich English barrister and sister of his friend, the feckless Everett Wharton. Mr. Wharton is vehemently opposed to this proposal of marriage. Emily has another suitor who her father prefers, a family friend whom she’s known since childhood, Arthur Fletcher. Emily is strong willed and has a penchant for dark, smooth talking men; drama ensues. Emily displays some of stubborn qualities of Lily Dale from The Small House At Allington, which will make the average reader (me) want to slap her.
Parallel to the trials of Emily Wharton are the trials of Plantagenet Palliser and his wife, Lady Glencora (aka the Duke and Duchess of Omnium). When Palliser is put forth as Prime Minister of a coalition government, this new role tests his marriage as it has never been tested since its shaky beginnings when Palliser put his wife before his career and politics and whisked her off to the Continent in Can You Forgive Her? Palliser feels useless as fainant Prime Minister and Glencora wants to help him become the kind of man history books are written about, so she pulls out all the stops to become a social hostess par excellance, using all her charm and spending prodigious amounts of money to promote her husband, even if he barely shows at any of the dinners or balls or country weeks she arranges. If the Duke and Duchess of Omnium were more on the same page, they would be a power couple never seen before in 19th century England. They actually complement one another. But that conflict, he retiring, honest to a fault but thin-skinned and she gregarious, shrewd and thick-skinned is what fuels the novel.
I enjoyed, apart from the two main stories, the glimpses of characters from previous books…not just Mr. and Mrs. Phineas Finn but also there is mention of Lady Carbury and Mr. Broune last seen in The Way We Live Now and Frank Gresham from the Barsetshire Chronicles (specifically Dr. Thorne) has a small role as friend and advisor to Arthur Fletcher.