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The Soldier's Wife

3.21 of 5 stars 3.21 · rating details · 506 ratings · 129 reviews

Dan Riley is a major in the British Army. After a tour of duty in Afghanistan, he is coming home to the wife and young daughters he adores. The outside world sees these reunions as a taste of heaven after months of hell. But are they? How does a man who's trained to fight adjust to family and domestic life? And how does the family cope if he can't? How much can Dan's wife,...more

Hardcover, 352 pages

Published February 2nd 2012 by Doubleday (first published 2012)

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Dec 02, 2012 Tima marked it as started-but-abandoned · review of another edition

I won this book from First Reads in May of 2012. ~~Two~~ ~~Three~~ almost four months later and it has still not arrived. Hmm..

I've contacted the publisher and Goodreads support and still have not received the book. I think we can consider this my negative review.

Final Edit: Not only have I contacted the publisher but contacted Goodreads support 3 additional times and they ensured me they would get back to me about it. It's been just shy of 7 months now and there's been no responses or book. I give up o...more

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Sep 04, 2012 Sandie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Alexa Riley is home, alone, waiting. Today is the day Dan returns home from his military tour in Afghanistan; six months away from home, the marriage, the children, everyday life. How will it go? The books all say there will be a period of adjustment, but that doesn't apply to them and their storybook marriage. Does it?

But once Dan is home, things are different. Alexa has changed and so has Dan and there are many other factors to consider. Alexa is offered a great job, but one she knows she cann...more

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Jul 12, 2012 Star (The Bibliophilic Book Blog) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed

It is difficult to be the family member of someone in the military whether they are deployed or not. The military always seems to come first and non-military family doesn’t understand what their loved one is going through. My brother was in the Army and was deployed overseas two or three times. I know it was difficult for our parents and even more so for his wife. It was hard for him adjusting when he returned to the States and at times I did not recognize the man my brother had become. Many rel...more

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Jul 10, 2012 Tia Bach rated it 5 of 5 stars

From the first page, I wanted the Rileys to make it through as a unit. Dan Riley knows all about protecting the unit as part of his British army training and experience, so why can't he keep his family unit together and happy? Alexa Riley has lost one husband already and can't bear to lose another one.

It's amazing how two people so in love can stop talking, stop listening. But that's exactly what happens to them. Thanks to wonderful friends and family, help is never far away. But in the end, it'...more

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Jul 05, 2012 Lj Neame rated it 4 of 5 stars

Probably one of my least favourite of her books and I've read them all. The reason is, I think, because she is writing about experiences and situations without first hand knowledge. This is what makes her books about upper middle class families and their trials so compelling and surely drawn In this case, she seems to be going from notes of interviews and of articles read, and a bit of imagining as to what it would be like to be the wife of a soldier returning from active combat. One of the thre...more

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Apr 12, 2012 Jo at Jaffareadstoo rated it 4 of 5 stars

Does marrying a soldier mean marrying the army?

When Major Dan Riley returns from a six month tour of Afghanistan, his wife Alexa, expects his return to England to be difficult, and she is aware that allowances will have to be made in order to ease the transition from life on the battlefield, to life at home. However, she is unprepared for the sheer volume of work that engulfs Dan on his return to barracks, and his commitment to his band of brothers threatens to ruin Alexa and Dan’s once strong...more

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Mar 07, 2012 Joanne D'arcy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Dan is husband to Alexa, father to twin girls, Flora and Tassy, stepfather to Isabel, son, grandson, son in law, friend and soldier. On return from a six month deployment in Afghanistan Dan cannot seem to find what he is anymore. Being a soldier is the easiest for him than returning to family life, the army life gives him more structure, purpose and plenty of knowns. Families bring plenty of unknowns and no orders on how to deal with them.

Alexa adores her husband and knew exactly what she was g...more Dan is husband to Alexa, father to twin girls, Flora and Tassy, stepfather to Isabel, son, grandson, son in law, friend and soldier. On return from a six month deployment in Afghanistan Dan cannot seem to find what he is anymore. Being a soldier is the easiest for him than returning to family life, the army life gives him more structure, purpose and plenty of knowns. Families bring plenty of unknowns and no orders on how to deal with them.

Alexa adores her husband and knew exactly what she was getting into upon marriage to Dan and marriage in effect to the army. Constant moving, no property that actually you can call your own, making new friends. Leaving old ones behind as you go to the next posting. Changing schools for the children, in fact it is an upheaval, but with Dan away she is the one to make it work, to fix everything; when he is back she wants to share that responsibility and become Alexa Riley and not Mrs Major Riley.

Dan does not understand, nobody is talking, whilst all around them lives are fracturing in their own way. Isabel is determined to make her point about boarding school, she does not want to be there no one asked her and the only reason she is, is because of the Army, because of Dan. Alexa has a chance of a job, to become herself for a few hours a day, away from the children but she knows she cannot take it, because of the Army, because of Dan.

And so Dan is the catalyst of this story which taps into a conscious of many readers who have experience of not just the Army but the other armed forces as well. I am a passive observer of such in my working life and can see the correlations that Joanna Trollope has covered. Times are changing and for the better.

It is a story about finding that happy balance, not just for those left at home those coming back as well. Trollope taps into something, and shows us inside an institution warts and all. Criticism is abound because it focuses on the more 'officer' class soldiers and not the average 'squaddie' in the story but actually it reflects everyone's part. Talking to the Brigadier and his wife, you sense that both Dan and Alexa feel inferior. The book goes a long way to show the class structure, the snobbery, the them and us that makes up part of all these institutions.

A book, which traverses along at a reasonable pace, there was a sense of undercurrent all the way through as the readers are watching something disintegrate. It would not if there was the right time to tell of what has happened at home as well as on the front line. And the right support to deal with wives and girlfriends wanting to not be an extension of their husbands but actually someone to be recognised in their own right. They married the man not the Army, is Trollope's theme throughout.

It is apparent that research and thought has gone into this book (why shouldn't it?) because it deals with those who come back from Afghanistan not the people they went with. The scenes where they are dealing with drugs within the regiment, the hard drinking,marriages breaking up, the rehabilitation of those who have lost limbs and the remembrance of those who did not make it back is handled in my opinion well without being too graphic or rose coloured in view. The references to previous conflicts through Dan's father and grandfather both ex Army was a good tool for reflecting the change that has happened on how returning to domestic and home life can be dealt with and has been. What the outside world sees is very different from the reality of living with that reunion. Trollope handles it efficiently and effectively, candidly and with empathy without patronising those it is happening to now in the here and now.

Having read only one Joanna Trollope novel many moons ago, I was thrilled to read this book as it has all the composite parts of being an excellent book in typical Trollope style. It would also make a good adaptation for television provided its handled with as much care as Trollope has done with the plot and the characters.

An interesting and thought provoking read, one which I will remember for a long time. (less)

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Mar 02, 2012 Steve lovell rated it 4 of 5 stars

A writer such as Trollope can take a reader and place her (more likely)/him (considerably less likely) into a groove from page one and transport seamlessly through a three hundred or so pages to, invariably, a neat, satisfying resolution. When on song, as she is in this novel, the reader will lose all track of time as this skilled practitioner inveigles the reader to care about her protagonists to the degree that there is always an unsatisfactory sigh emanating as the book is placed to one side...more A writer such as Trollope can take a reader and place her (more likely)/him (considerably less likely) into a groove from page one and transport seamlessly through a three hundred or so pages to, invariably, a neat, satisfying resolution. When on song, as she is in this novel, the reader will lose all track of time as this skilled practitioner inveigles the reader to care about her protagonists to the degree that there is always an unsatisfactory sigh emanating as the book is placed to one side to deal with life’s more mundane minutiae.
For seventeen titles this’ aga-sagaist’ has been at this – it must be so second nature to her now! Take a group of not especially significant people, place them in domestic situations, stir in a few pressures to make the threads of life fray, and then guide them through the sorting out process to an aforementioned ending, to cause a sigh of a different nature from her public.
Here the non-significant is Alexa, chaffing in her role as army wife, trying to contend with husband Dan, still on a ‘high’ after his third sortie to Afghanistan. Now my father (World War 2) and brother-in-law (Vietnam) never had the emphasis that soldiers have placed on their re-entry to ‘normal’ service life after an deployment these days, and their generations would consider this conflict, Iran and probably the Falklands (which features) as minor skirmishes. But that would be unfair, and certainly Dan’s father and grandfather do not subscribe to that view. These two are probably Trollope’s best creations in this salutary tale, although Beetle the dog is particularly attractive too.
Throw in a feisty teenage daughter, an engaging pair of twins and some army buddies/wives similarly afflicted, to various degrees, with their ‘returns’, and we have a potently heady mix for reader entrapment.
Maybe Trollope could be criticised here for a too pat ending, and by this civvy for some ‘over the top’ army speak. Maybe a few of her characters drift into the mien of stiff upper lip cliché, but having read all her titles, this reader, like her devoted fans, know what to expect, and are disappointed when she strays from her winning formula. I enjoyed ‘A Soldier’s Wife’ immensely.

(less)

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Jan 18, 2013 Vicky rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: library, 2013, 3-5_stars

The Soldier's Wife follows Dan and Alexa Riley and their extended family and friends in the time following Dan's return from a deployment to Afghanistan. Being a member of a military family can be very difficult, and we see how it affects not just Dan and Alexa, but their daughter Isabel, who has been sent to boarding school to prevent frequent school changes that come with frequent transfers common in the military, Alexa's parents; Dan's father and grandfather; Gus, Dan's army buddy, and his wi...more

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Aug 12, 2012 Rachel rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, audio, womens-fiction

I listened to this book on audio and three of the CDs in the middle of the book were misnumbered. I ended up listening to a good portion of the book out of order before I realized the error. I thought it was just really disjointed story! Anyway, I listened to a review copy so I'm assuming (hoping) that the CDs are labeled correctly on the final copy.

Charlotte Anne Dore did a good job with the narration. I'm not familiar with the different regional accents in England but I did notice that some of...more I listened to this book on audio and three of the CDs in the middle of the book were misnumbered. I ended up listening to a good portion of the book out of order before I realized the error. I thought it was just really disjointed story! Anyway, I listened to a review copy so I'm assuming (hoping) that the CDs are labeled correctly on the final copy.

Charlotte Anne Dore did a good job with the narration. I'm not familiar with the different regional accents in England but I did notice that some of the characters had different accents than others. Being an ignorant American, I will just assume that all the accents were appropriate.

I felt ambivalent about this book. It was entertaining enough to keep listening until the end but I never felt connected to any of the characters, except Isabel, Alexa's daughter. She's a secondary character and only in a few scenes though. Her parents send her to boarding school to give her some stability. Apparently, it is common for children of British soldiers to go to boarding school to avoid having to move around and change schools. Isabel is miserable at boarding school and I felt really bad for her.

So many characters were introduced so quickly that I had to listen to the first CD twice before moving on to the second CD to make sure I had everybody straight. I'm not sure if that's the author's fault or if I should blame it on mommy brain.

I was really surprised with how invested Dan and Alexa's parents and friends were in Dan and Alexa's marriage. They were a bunch of busybodies but not in a humorous way. I was perplexed. Alexa's supposed best friend Jack confused me too. I wasn't sure what he added to the story other than being kind of mean to Alexa. I couldn't figure out why she was friends with him.

Honestly, I didn't have much sympathy for Dan. I thought he was an ass most of the time and that Alexa was a doormat. Maybe it's because I'm not a military wife or close friends with one. Perhaps if there would have been some background about his time in Afghanistan, I could have related to him better. Or maybe I'm a cold-hearted snake.

The right person to read this book may be out there, but it was not me.
(less)

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Oct 24, 2012 Dale Harcombe rated it 3 of 5 stars

I’m giving this book, three and a half stars. I pounced on this when I saw it at the library as I like Joanna Trollope’ s books and adore her one prior to this Daughters- in-Law. Perhaps part of the problem with this one was my expectations were too high and then I found it hard to get into at first, as I didn’t warm easily to the characters, especially Dan.
However, once it got going I became involved in the story of Alexa, married to Dan who has just returned from six months tour if duty in Af...more

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Oct 03, 2012 Dot rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: dot-s-booklist-2012

I enjoy books by Joanna Trollope. Mostly they involve family life in the UK and often have a current issue to be explored. In the novel, Trollope takes on the difficulties faced by the families of active servicemen in the armed forces.

The novel opens with the return of a regiment to Britain after deployment in Afghanistan. What should be a happy reunion with immediate families turns out to be problematic. The soldiers themselves find it hard to adjust to family life and are still closely attache...more

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Jul 20, 2012 Kirsty Darbyshire rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: library-book

With the title it seems that Joanna Trollope wants you to compare it to the Rector's Wife, which I read about 20 years ago. The books are certainly comparable - they both concern women dealing with being married to men who are married to their careers. Without going back and actually reading the previous book I thought this seemed like a stronger story that came up with more answers than the Rector version, but the fact that I'm twenty years older with far more relationship experience myself mig...more

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Mar 12, 2013 Helen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Book jacket summary:
Dan Riley is a major in the British Army. After a six month tour of duty in Afghanistan, he is coming home to the wife and young daughters he adores. The outside world sees those reunions as a taste of heaven after months of hell. But are they? Can a man trained to fight adjust again to family and domestic life? And how will the family cope, if he can't? To what extent can Alexa, Dan's wife, sacrifice her own needs and fulfilment to support his commitment to a way of life tha...more Book jacket summary:
Dan Riley is a major in the British Army. After a six month tour of duty in Afghanistan, he is coming home to the wife and young daughters he adores. The outside world sees those reunions as a taste of heaven after months of hell. But are they? Can a man trained to fight adjust again to family and domestic life? And how will the family cope, if he can't? To what extent can Alexa, Dan's wife, sacrifice her own needs and fulfilment to support his commitment to a way of life that demands everything not just of him, but of her and the children as well? This novel takes a keen look at the home lives of the modern Army. What happens when love and a vocation collide, head on?

This is a book which looks at how a soldier's return from a hellish tour of duty in Afghanistan is followed by a difficult readjustment to famiy life, and how hard the process is for all concerned.

Whilst Dan is abroad, Alexa has kept the family together and functioning, like the single parentshe is whilst he is away, but once her husband returns, she is still shouldering all the burdens because the distant and preoccupied Dan can only focus on his regiment, his friends and his experiences in the theatre of war to the exclusion of all else. He does not connect with Alexa and his family in any sense, and he fails to back up Alexa when she needs it the most.

As the couple drift apart, and seem to be hurtling towards the same state of total marital breakdown experienced by Dan's closest friend, he is finally brought to his senses by his father just before the situation becomes totally untenable.

Running parallel with this story is the depiction of how the modern army wife is changing and evolving. The younger wives and girlfriends are not so willing to accept the selfless sacrifice of the other generations of women before them, and whilst they will love and support their spouses they refuse to lose their identities or ignore their own need for fulfilment and a life of their own.

A thoughtful, insightful and sensitive exploration of life in the modern army. (less)

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Aug 13, 2012 Kellie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I quite enjoyed this, though I'm unlikely to read anything from the author again. This sort of literature really isn't my cup of tea. Too realist, middle class, mundane.

It's about a young woman, Alexa, who has two three-year old twins with her husband, Dan, who's about to return from a tour of duty with the British Army in Afghanistan, plus Alexa's daughter, Isabel, with her first husband who died young. Isabel's been having a rough time at boarding school, where she is placed for stability and...more

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Dec 16, 2012 Melanie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012

I will start this review by saying I am a Navy wife so I understand the issues faced by Military families.

I found this book to be very true (from my own experiences.)
The homecoming after a deployment is always difficult, the excitement at seeing your loved one again is often plagued with doubts about what will they be like, have I changed, have they changed?

The kids adjust quickly to having their parent back but the adults often find it harder to adjust. The serving parent doesn't know how quick...more

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Jul 12, 2012 Wendy Hines rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Soldier's Wife is about a wife waiting for her husband to get home from Afghanistan. While he is gone, she struggles with her daughter and her own hopes and dreams. While I empathize with those who wait for loved ones in the military, their problems are much like those of civilians. Teenagers have problems, marriages have ups and downs and sometimes one decision can have a huge impact on everything else.

Joanna Trollope handles the material with subtly and compassion. The reader finds themse...more

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Jul 24, 2012 Lynn rated it 4 of 5 stars

A great insight into military families and the difficulties they face when a loved one returns from a war zone. But, most importantly, a story of "family" in all its variations: nuclear and extended, friends, military family, and the many kinds of support each can offer. This is my first Joanna Trollope novel, but it won't be my last.

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Apr 05, 2012 Susan rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012books

Dan Riley is a major in the British Army. After a six month tour of duty in Afghanistan, he is coming home to the wife and young daughters he adores. The outside world sees those reunions as a taste of heaven after months of hell.

But are they? Can a man trained to fight adjust again to family and domestic life? And how will the family cope, if he can't? To what extent can Alexa, Dan's wife, sacrifice her own needs and fulfilment to support his commitment to a way of life that demands everything...more

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Mar 20, 2012 Juliet rated it 4 of 5 stars

I love Joanna Trollope's novels for their insightful examination of human relationships and human frailties. The Soldier's Wife is set mostly on a military base in the UK, and focuses on the challenges facing personnel in the modern Army. What sacrifices must a woman make when she commits to the life of an army wife? What compromises are necessary? How does a long deployment impact on the emotional health of both partners? Through central couple Dan Riley, a major in the British Army who is just...more

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Jun 14, 2012 Jean rated it 4 of 5 stars

Another excellent novel by Joanna Trollope. In this novel she examines the difficulties faced by soldiers returning from a dangerous tour of duty in Afghanistan. One would imagine that reunions with wives and families at home would be joyous for everyone concerned, but in this novel, this is not the case.

Joanna Trollope explores the difficulties faced by soldiers and the families who have waited to welcome them at home. In this day and age it is not enough for many soldiers' wives to be home-ma...more

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May 03, 2012 Jane rated it 3 of 5 stars

The Soldier’s Wife by Joanna Trollope is a slow-burn read. Almost so slow-burning that the story failed to catch alight. But slowly, slowly the characters and their problems drew me in and I found myself reading avidly.

The soldier in this story is Dan Riley – a major in the British Army. He has just returned home after a six-month tour of duty in Afghanistan. His wife, Alexa, has been left caring for twin toddler daughters and Isabel, her twelve-year-old daughter from her first marriage. The sto...more The Soldier’s Wife by Joanna Trollope is a slow-burn read. Almost so slow-burning that the story failed to catch alight. But slowly, slowly the characters and their problems drew me in and I found myself reading avidly.

The soldier in this story is Dan Riley – a major in the British Army. He has just returned home after a six-month tour of duty in Afghanistan. His wife, Alexa, has been left caring for twin toddler daughters and Isabel, her twelve-year-old daughter from her first marriage. The story is told from the point-of-view of Dan, Alexa and Isabel – as well as an assortment of other family members.

Alexa is a ‘good’ Army wife but, despite her love for her husband, she is finding it increasingly hard to deal with Army life and its difficulties: the absence of her husband, the moving house every couple of years, the disruption to Isabel’s schooling, and putting her own career aspirations on hold. The worse thing is that even when Dan is at home it’s like he is still away.

The soldier’s wife says: “… I can’t live purely on his (Dan’s) fulfilment. I’m a person too, with a brain as well as a heart, and all the ambitions and hungers and curiosities that brains have. I also can’t live on the emotional crumbs that fall from Dan’s table after his men have finished eating the main meal …”

Dan loves the Army life. It’s in his blood. Both his father and grandfather were in the Army and fought in past conflicts. (These two elderly gents are fantastic characters who leap off the page.) Dan also loves his wife and children. When he is away fighting, he fights for them. He makes sure to protect his wife from the horrors of war by not speaking of what he has been through. But Dan finds it difficult to settle back into everyday life.

The soldier says: “You long for home, don’t you? You fight for it. But what you forget when you’re away is that ordinary life won’t kill you, except by accident, so of course everything looks pretty small here by comparison. And pretty dull.”

The family’s story unfolds, gradually. As a reader you are drawn into the question of “whose side are you on?” But it’s complicated. I found myself wavering in support of one and then the other. Is Alexa selfish for wanting her own life? Should she shut-up because she was warned what she was marrying into? Is Dan selfish for putting the Army first in so many situations and spending more time with his Army buddy than with his family? Will Alexa and Dan’s marriage survive the simmering tensions? You’ll have to read the book to find out. I’m not sure if I was entirely satisfied with the ending …

This slow-burning book has a very real story to tell about modern Army life. It is a story of sacrifices made on all sides.(less)

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Jul 28, 2012 Evanston Public Library added it

Shelves: fiction

Alexa Riley is the wife of a British Army major who has just returned with his men from a six month deployment in Afghanistan. Physically he's back. Mentally, he is still in "The Zone." Alexa's twelve year old daughter is miserable at boarding school and three year old energetic twins barely know their father. And she'd like to resume her professional life. But military families must follow protocol, not make waves and be ready to move on short notice. The tensions brought about by these various...more

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Nov 13, 2012 Reading Fool rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

The story of Alexa Riley and her husband Dan, who is a major in the British army. Dan has just returned from a 6-month stint in Afghanistan, and the Rileys are trying to adjust to life after his return. Alexa is considering the offer of a teaching job but is torn between the desire for a career and her loyalty to her husband and the Army. Dan is struggling with life back on base while trying to help his fellow soldiers. The entire family is on the verge of breaking down.

This was my first Joanna...more

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Sep 22, 2012 Cherie rated it 3 of 5 stars

This story was very different from anything I have ever read, in that it deals with modern home life in the British Military. Alexa Riley welcomes her husband home from Afghanistan but finds that Dan can't quite make the switch from the intense comraderie with his army mates to being a husband and a father. I enjoyed reading about life on a army post in England. I realize that this is a problem that can occur with any soldier, British, American, or whatever. We owe these men so much and just don...more

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Aug 19, 2012 Linda K K rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The inner workings of a British soldiers' family are on display in this very insightful story. Dan is home from from Afghanistan, at least physically, although his emotions are still very much with his men as he seeks to assist them in acclimating back to their home life. Wife Alexa and three daughters are left to continue on their own, as Dan cannot seem to reconnect as needed.

The couples' parents and grandparents give the family lots of space at first, but then combine to offer their support a...more

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Jul 05, 2012 Fiona Robson rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is probably the best JT novel I've read yet, and certainly one of the best books I have read this year. It highlights the complexity of army life and the fact that the soldier's life has a knock on effect to the family, children, spouses etc. of all of those left behind. I could actually feel the main characters pain and anguish and felt aggrieved that it seemed as though nobody, even her closest friend was on her side. So hot on the heels of "Military Wives"; it would be good if people wer...more

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Mar 30, 2012 Catherine Robertson rated it 3 of 5 stars

Who knew there were four other books called The Soldier's Wife? Thanks, Goodreads! I always find Joanna Trollope's writing to be rather cool and aloof, which I confess I admire, and this book is no different. I loved the father and grandfather characters, but found Alexa (the wife of the title) to be a bit of a nothing. I wasn't sure what interested or motivated her - and she didn't seem to have much genuine affection for her hubbie at all. Maybe I'm not British enough, and she was in fact throb...more

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Jun 12, 2012 Nette rated it 3 of 5 stars

Trollope's novels are always pleasurable -- she's so much better than most "domestic drama" authors -- but this one left me a little cold. It's the first of her books that felt like it was trying to educate us about a Big Issue (the problems of military families), rather than describing difficulties that might occur in any marriage. However, and I may have said this before in my reviews, nobody writes kids' dialogue better than she does. The nutty twin toddlers in this one are particularly (and...more

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Jun 17, 2012 Dana rated it 3 of 5 stars

Just finished "The Soldier's Wife," by Joanna Trollope. Having read 8 or 9 previous novels by Trollope, I have to say that this was the weakest, by far. HOWEVER, even a mediocre novel by Trollope standards, is a good novel when compared to other writers. It was the story that lacked something for me, rather than the writing itself, which is always brilliant when penned by this author. I just had trouble feeling much deep empathy for the characters, other than a grandfather and great grandfather...more

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About Joanna Trollope

Joanna Trollope Potter Curteis (aka Caroline Harvey)

Joanna Trollope was born on 9 December 1943 in her grandfather's rectory in Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire, England, daughter of Rosemary Hodson and Arthur George Cecil Trollope. She is the eldest of three siblings. She is a fifth-generation niece of the Victorian novelist Anthony Trollope and is a cousin of the writer and broadcaster James Trol...more

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