What do you think?
Rate this book
Sir Harry Hotspur of Humblethwaite
On the death of his only son, the wealthy baronet Sir Harry Hotspur had determined to give his property to his daughter Emily. She is vigorous, beautiful, and as strong willed and high principled as her father. So when she falls in love with George Hotspur, heir to the title and black sheep of the family, Sir Harry must choose between losing family honor and happiness and losing his beloved daughter.
Audio CD
First published December 1, 1870
24 people are currently reading
379 people want to read
About the author
Anthony Trollope
2,374 books1,775 followersAnthony Trollope became one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. Some of Trollope's best-loved works, known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, revolve around the imaginary county of Barsetshire; he also wrote penetrating novels on political, social, and gender issues and conflicts of his day.
Trollope has always been a popular novelist. Noted fans have included Sir Alec Guinness (who never travelled without a Trollope novel), former British Prime Ministers Harold Macmillan and Sir John Major, economist John Kenneth Galbraith, American novelists Sue Grafton and Dominick Dunne and soap opera writer Harding Lemay. Trollope's literary reputation dipped somewhat during the last years of his life, but he regained the esteem of critics by the mid-twentieth century.
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_...
Trollope has always been a popular novelist. Noted fans have included Sir Alec Guinness (who never travelled without a Trollope novel), former British Prime Ministers Harold Macmillan and Sir John Major, economist John Kenneth Galbraith, American novelists Sue Grafton and Dominick Dunne and soap opera writer Harding Lemay. Trollope's literary reputation dipped somewhat during the last years of his life, but he regained the esteem of critics by the mid-twentieth century.
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 94 reviews
January 8, 2023
This book was slow to hook me, but once it did, I could hardly bear to do anything but read it. Trollope has a way of building a whole world with a single room where you can imagine where the furniture is placed and what the rest of the house, of the houses, look like. And with his characters, they are so real that you can imagine how they walk, talk and live life even when you aren't there as a non-active participant, more than just a reader with a book. To read Trollope is to become immersed in a world that if not your own, you are at least involved in as if you were present.
My previous favourite Trollope was Barchester Towers, which was very much of the tradition of Gaskell's Cranford and Jane Austen's minutae of the upper middle classes - the period in which most costume dramas are set. Sir Harry Hotspur is a very different kind of book. Despite it's length, it is populated with very few characters, but delves deep into their minds and motives. It is also the only one of Trollope's books, of novels in general, where everything does not work out in the end.
The book has a psychological depth that was also evident in Barchester Towers but is not generally a mark of the work of Trollope whose depth lies more in social commentary, but that together with the wonderful writing elevates it to one of my favourite classic novels of all time.
Review 5/2020. Book read in 2011.
My previous favourite Trollope was Barchester Towers, which was very much of the tradition of Gaskell's Cranford and Jane Austen's minutae of the upper middle classes - the period in which most costume dramas are set. Sir Harry Hotspur is a very different kind of book. Despite it's length, it is populated with very few characters, but delves deep into their minds and motives. It is also the only one of Trollope's books, of novels in general, where everything does not work out in the end.
The book has a psychological depth that was also evident in Barchester Towers but is not generally a mark of the work of Trollope whose depth lies more in social commentary, but that together with the wonderful writing elevates it to one of my favourite classic novels of all time.
Review 5/2020. Book read in 2011.
February 7, 2017
If you've read every Austen book and finished off Gaskell as well, if you've watched up all of Downton Abbey and polished off Upstairs, Downstairs too, and yet you still want more uptight British aristocracy drama from the Victorian/Edwardian era, Sir Harry Hotspur Of Humblethwaite by Anthony Trollope is just what you're looking for!
This book is all about the social mores of the times, mid 19th century rural England. Watching these characters act and live by these intricate and sometimes convoluted rules of behavior can be frustrating for the modern reader. In this respect, Trollope excels himself, exceeding all expectation for a trying read indeed!
If you've read Sense and Sensibility, the plot of Sir Harry Hotspur Of Humblethwaite will feel very similar to that of the Marianne Dashwood storyline. The good girl wants the bad boy and there's nothing that can be said by her rational, thoughtful friends to dissuade her, because they are rational and thoughtful, thus too cold to understand true love. Kids will be kids, as the saying goes. You can lead a girl to Colonel Brandon, but she'll drink up Willoughby until she bursts!
None of the above truly mars this novel. What makes this a less-than-stellar read is the author's fourth wall breaking and use of exposition in place of storytelling: Dear reader, let me tell you about the feelings of these characters rather than showing you. Again, different eras, differing tastes. I'm not saying Trollope couldn't do it, but he didn't...for the most part. Don't get me wrong, there are some quality dramatic scenes that play out in a satisfying way, which save the book from being an utter drudge read.
However, this was not a pleasure. It was mostly mechanical and dull in many places, while the ending is rushed and melodramatic. I could still recommend this to those who REALLY go in for the Austen/Downton kind of thing, but only them.
This book is all about the social mores of the times, mid 19th century rural England. Watching these characters act and live by these intricate and sometimes convoluted rules of behavior can be frustrating for the modern reader. In this respect, Trollope excels himself, exceeding all expectation for a trying read indeed!
If you've read Sense and Sensibility, the plot of Sir Harry Hotspur Of Humblethwaite will feel very similar to that of the Marianne Dashwood storyline. The good girl wants the bad boy and there's nothing that can be said by her rational, thoughtful friends to dissuade her, because they are rational and thoughtful, thus too cold to understand true love. Kids will be kids, as the saying goes. You can lead a girl to Colonel Brandon, but she'll drink up Willoughby until she bursts!
None of the above truly mars this novel. What makes this a less-than-stellar read is the author's fourth wall breaking and use of exposition in place of storytelling: Dear reader, let me tell you about the feelings of these characters rather than showing you. Again, different eras, differing tastes. I'm not saying Trollope couldn't do it, but he didn't...for the most part. Don't get me wrong, there are some quality dramatic scenes that play out in a satisfying way, which save the book from being an utter drudge read.
However, this was not a pleasure. It was mostly mechanical and dull in many places, while the ending is rushed and melodramatic. I could still recommend this to those who REALLY go in for the Austen/Downton kind of thing, but only them.
January 8, 2025
I read Barchester Towers at least 20 years ago and liked it fine but of all the ages of British literature the Victorian is the one with which I usually vibe least -- naturally I can enjoy a Dickens yarn and Hardy is great but I'm drawn much more to Defoe and all the weirdos of the 18c. But I'm always wanting to know more about Trollope, always wanting to get a sense of him, so I've gathered plenty of his books on my shelves over the years and I dove into 2025 with a truly gorgeous hardback edition of Sir Harry Hotspur.
I enjoyed it tremendously -- one of my problems with Victorians is how messed up they are about love and marriage, and Harry Hotspur does not surprise or disappoint on this front; how people ever lived like this remains a mystery to me (and I suspect that the poor, who don't figure in Trollope's world at all, did not in fact live like this at all; and that Trollope knew as well as we do that the gentry kinda didn't, either); but I found the telling of the story engaging, witty, richly told and compulsively readable, and its ending remarkably bleak. I couldn't put the book down, its scenes were so alive and human, however alien to me the people can seem in their values -- I came to know them, and could understand if not often sympathize. And so I am beginning Ralph the Heir, a later Trollope novel, immediately. Let Trollope January roll on!
I enjoyed it tremendously -- one of my problems with Victorians is how messed up they are about love and marriage, and Harry Hotspur does not surprise or disappoint on this front; how people ever lived like this remains a mystery to me (and I suspect that the poor, who don't figure in Trollope's world at all, did not in fact live like this at all; and that Trollope knew as well as we do that the gentry kinda didn't, either); but I found the telling of the story engaging, witty, richly told and compulsively readable, and its ending remarkably bleak. I couldn't put the book down, its scenes were so alive and human, however alien to me the people can seem in their values -- I came to know them, and could understand if not often sympathize. And so I am beginning Ralph the Heir, a later Trollope novel, immediately. Let Trollope January roll on!
July 25, 2020
If you happen to be looking for a typical Victorian novel complete with barons, ladies, scoundrels, and coquettish women, then this book will be something of a discovery. It’s set in the late 1860s and tells a classic be-careful-of-what-you-wish-for story.
Trollope’s writing in Humblethwaite is calm and it conveys a sense of confidence in his storytelling abilities. He seems to know that the acts of our fellow humans will be entertaining if told with honesty and sincerity. There’s a lot of good writing within this book, but the relevance of Trollope’s insights into the inner workings of an English aristocratic family and their First World problems of the times have faded since then. However, being able to escape into those problems offers a distraction from things that are presently relevant, and Trollope’s writing offers just that.
Trollope’s writing in Humblethwaite is calm and it conveys a sense of confidence in his storytelling abilities. He seems to know that the acts of our fellow humans will be entertaining if told with honesty and sincerity. There’s a lot of good writing within this book, but the relevance of Trollope’s insights into the inner workings of an English aristocratic family and their First World problems of the times have faded since then. However, being able to escape into those problems offers a distraction from things that are presently relevant, and Trollope’s writing offers just that.
December 12, 2022
An interesting Anthony Trollope. I loved a lot of it, but the ending wasn't quite what I wanted.
March 20, 2016
1.5 did not finish. Disappointed and bored, though I have been told this is not typical of Trollope. Need to try a different book by him.
August 16, 2025
I had a great time listening to Anthony Trollope books last year, and this one has contributed towards my love for him. I'm not sure why I have never read him before, but I think his stories are excellent.
This one, about the Hotspur family, was quite gripping. An ill-suited romantic devotion that wreaks havoc for many, with an ending that allows the villain to continue on, while those he abandons are ruined. Unexpectedly brutal, and oddly relatable. I think we all at least know someone who is utterly determined to stand by someone who does not deserve them, no matter the personal cost.
This one, about the Hotspur family, was quite gripping. An ill-suited romantic devotion that wreaks havoc for many, with an ending that allows the villain to continue on, while those he abandons are ruined. Unexpectedly brutal, and oddly relatable. I think we all at least know someone who is utterly determined to stand by someone who does not deserve them, no matter the personal cost.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 20, 2016
How does one write a review for this book without saying too much?
The ending is important, and that ending is not going to please everyone, but I liked it. It is realistic. It is why I considered giving the book 3 rather than 2 stars. The first half of the book dragged. It is boring. It lacks the humor I so love in Trollope's books. There is very little humor in any of this book. I smiled at only a line or two. For these reasons 2 rather than 3 stars.
I insist that what happens here IS true to life. This is a story about money and marriage and the social norms of the Victorian era. It is about the restriction that era placed on people. It is also about love, how it messes with your head. It is about love between father and daughter, love between mother and daughter and in a couple. These love attachments are not the same even if they are equally strong. I felt that each character remained true to him or herself. I understood the father. I understood the mother and the daughter. Each one is different and they are not caricatures. There are people like George! If you need to love a book's characters, I don't recommend this book. I do recommend it to those of you who are intrigued by the fallibility of human behavior. Even when you try your best all can go downhill. That is how life is. Good intentions do not prevent disaster.
All the other audiobooks I have read by Trollope have been narrated by Timothy West. He was excellent. It was great to test one narrated by another, to see if this should influence my appreciation. I didn't see as much humor, but I don't think it is there in the lines. I did like the narration by Tony Britton and know now I can choose him for Trollope’s books too.
If you are looking for a fairytale, don’t read this book. If you have never read Trollope before, don’t read this book. His talents are only hinted at. I liked the book by its end, but struggled through at least the first half. I cannot rate a book solely by how I feel at the end.
The ending is important, and that ending is not going to please everyone, but I liked it. It is realistic. It is why I considered giving the book 3 rather than 2 stars. The first half of the book dragged. It is boring. It lacks the humor I so love in Trollope's books. There is very little humor in any of this book. I smiled at only a line or two. For these reasons 2 rather than 3 stars.
I insist that what happens here IS true to life. This is a story about money and marriage and the social norms of the Victorian era. It is about the restriction that era placed on people. It is also about love, how it messes with your head. It is about love between father and daughter, love between mother and daughter and in a couple. These love attachments are not the same even if they are equally strong. I felt that each character remained true to him or herself. I understood the father. I understood the mother and the daughter. Each one is different and they are not caricatures. There are people like George! If you need to love a book's characters, I don't recommend this book. I do recommend it to those of you who are intrigued by the fallibility of human behavior. Even when you try your best all can go downhill. That is how life is. Good intentions do not prevent disaster.
All the other audiobooks I have read by Trollope have been narrated by Timothy West. He was excellent. It was great to test one narrated by another, to see if this should influence my appreciation. I didn't see as much humor, but I don't think it is there in the lines. I did like the narration by Tony Britton and know now I can choose him for Trollope’s books too.
If you are looking for a fairytale, don’t read this book. If you have never read Trollope before, don’t read this book. His talents are only hinted at. I liked the book by its end, but struggled through at least the first half. I cannot rate a book solely by how I feel at the end.
Read
October 10, 2024If it wasn't for the very Trollope-like title, I would think I just finished a Thomas Hardy novel! I think of Trollope as being in the comedic tradition, so I feel rather upended by a tragic Trollope novel. His villains usually get a more comedically appropriate ending rather than this villain who sinks further and further into vice. His ending is likely realistic for his vices. I wasn't holding out any hope for him as Emily does, but Trollope is more explicitly religious in this novel than in many of his others. I wasn't sure where he was going to go with that.
Emily drove me NUTS. Here's a line about her: "She had given herself up to one utterly worthless, and she knew it. But yet she had given herself, and could not revoke the gift." This is SUCH a Trollopian sentence in both its construction and in its characterization of women. It's interesting to be reading The Duke's Children at the same time as I was reading this one because I can see many similarities between Emily and Lady Mary. Lady Mary's story doesn't end in tragedy and Frank Tregear is not addicted to vice or worthless like George Hotspur, but Lady Mary is also completely blind to the fact that life and the world are so much bigger than one man, even a man one has given one's self to. "I can never love another man!" Trollope so likes to have women who are obstinately attached to a man. Huge eye roll. Is this simply a Victorian trope? A Victorian actuality? Is this me-the-modern-and-unmarried-reader chafing at Victorian views about women and marriage? I'm not sure...
In the Trollope Society discussion of chapters 47-57 yesterday, the man who introduced the chapters posed an excellent question about a number of the characters: "Are they morally upright or obstinate?" I love this question, and I'm going to be pondering it with many characters in many Trollope novels. I admire Emily's conviction that a man can be redeemed. Yes, I absolutely agree, with God's help! But her obstinate error is that she must be involved in his redemption. There are just so many stories of that not working at all. I honestly think that Emily was driven more by pride with her obstinate attachment to George Hotspur. If she was able to embrace the truth about George, it would have set her free for a life of goodness instead of chaining her to a life of degradation and death. I am so angry with Emily!
This was a read for Victober 2024. Will someone else read it so we can discuss?!
Emily drove me NUTS. Here's a line about her: "She had given herself up to one utterly worthless, and she knew it. But yet she had given herself, and could not revoke the gift." This is SUCH a Trollopian sentence in both its construction and in its characterization of women. It's interesting to be reading The Duke's Children at the same time as I was reading this one because I can see many similarities between Emily and Lady Mary. Lady Mary's story doesn't end in tragedy and Frank Tregear is not addicted to vice or worthless like George Hotspur, but Lady Mary is also completely blind to the fact that life and the world are so much bigger than one man, even a man one has given one's self to. "I can never love another man!" Trollope so likes to have women who are obstinately attached to a man. Huge eye roll. Is this simply a Victorian trope? A Victorian actuality? Is this me-the-modern-and-unmarried-reader chafing at Victorian views about women and marriage? I'm not sure...
In the Trollope Society discussion of chapters 47-57 yesterday, the man who introduced the chapters posed an excellent question about a number of the characters: "Are they morally upright or obstinate?" I love this question, and I'm going to be pondering it with many characters in many Trollope novels. I admire Emily's conviction that a man can be redeemed. Yes, I absolutely agree, with God's help! But her obstinate error is that she must be involved in his redemption. There are just so many stories of that not working at all. I honestly think that Emily was driven more by pride with her obstinate attachment to George Hotspur. If she was able to embrace the truth about George, it would have set her free for a life of goodness instead of chaining her to a life of degradation and death. I am so angry with Emily!
This was a read for Victober 2024. Will someone else read it so we can discuss?!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 29, 2007
The short, but sad, story of Sir Harry. He wanted to make a fitting marriage for his only daughter, Emily, by marrying her to a cousin who would inherit his title. He had reservations about this plan, based on the character of the cousin, and it soon proved to be a mistake. But too late! Emily was in love.
This one holds a special place for me, because I own the original of the frontispiece drawn by Peter Brookes for the Folio Society's edition of this novel, won in the Folio's "Trollope knowledge" contest. (And here I feel a bit like Bertie Wooster, who somehow always finds a way to drop the little tidbit that he won the Scripture Knowledge prize at school.)
This one holds a special place for me, because I own the original of the frontispiece drawn by Peter Brookes for the Folio Society's edition of this novel, won in the Folio's "Trollope knowledge" contest. (And here I feel a bit like Bertie Wooster, who somehow always finds a way to drop the little tidbit that he won the Scripture Knowledge prize at school.)
June 6, 2013
Although this is not one of those much beloved novels by Trollope, I found it to be truly gripping and unforgettable in its way. A debate rages in a Trollope group that I belong to over the true nature of Emily, the heroine. Some see her as driven by an unquenchable love; I judged her to be a willful, selfish girl who would stop at nothing to prove herself right. I stayed up late two nights reading this novel, and the twists and turns of the plot all made sense, maddening though they were.
It is only 208 pages long, but the rich drama contained within it makes it seem longer.
It is only 208 pages long, but the rich drama contained within it makes it seem longer.
April 26, 2019
Sad, annoying, but beautiful short novel by Anthony Trollope! It is about the complex nature of human love and relationships, loss, family, duty, honesty and integration, and social class.
July 13, 2015
I listened for hours in horror. Trollope, you can't let this girl marry HIM? This book captures the way a jerk can be charming and oh so self-absorbed and how naive and ridiculous a girl can be with a good-looking man who can talk well.
The disadvantage of listening to a book (while working on chores) is that the delicious quotes get past you. If I find some (when I have time to look for them - I delude myself) I'll come back and post them.
The disadvantage of listening to a book (while working on chores) is that the delicious quotes get past you. If I find some (when I have time to look for them - I delude myself) I'll come back and post them.
March 21, 2016
Satire about the (unsuccessful) attempt of a wealthy girl to reform her black sheep of a cousin so she could marry him.
Not Trollope's best but enjoyable enough. The character that I ended up sympathizing with most was the title character, Sir Harry.
Not Trollope's best but enjoyable enough. The character that I ended up sympathizing with most was the title character, Sir Harry.
September 15, 2009
This is the saddest of the more that 20 Trollope novels I have read. The set-up is classic Trollope: a young girl and young man want to marry and there are obstacles in their way. The joy of reading Trollope is the joy of watching how these obstacles are overcome. Not here.
Emily Hotspur is an extreme version of Lily Dale of the last two Barset novels. I never understood why she is such a beloved character. I found her dedication to the cad Adolphus Crosby incomprehensible. I figured that it was the only way that Victorian virgins could exercise some power over their fate: by determining their own future, even if that future is lonely.
With Lily there seemed to be some understanding and affection on Trollope's side, even though she spurns the eminently worthy and loveable Johnny Eames. With Emily Hotspur it is quite another story and analysis. I was not prepared for the desolation of the end. I don't remember any other Trollope novel ending quite so bleakly
Emily Hotspur is an extreme version of Lily Dale of the last two Barset novels. I never understood why she is such a beloved character. I found her dedication to the cad Adolphus Crosby incomprehensible. I figured that it was the only way that Victorian virgins could exercise some power over their fate: by determining their own future, even if that future is lonely.
With Lily there seemed to be some understanding and affection on Trollope's side, even though she spurns the eminently worthy and loveable Johnny Eames. With Emily Hotspur it is quite another story and analysis. I was not prepared for the desolation of the end. I don't remember any other Trollope novel ending quite so bleakly
October 16, 2014
I feel as though I'm scraping the bottom of the Anthony Trollope barrel at this point. While I enjoyed listening to this book I found the story and the ending unrealistic and disappointing. Typically I like Trollope's heroines. They are plucky, not susceptible to public opinion, and able to change course when they see the errors of their ways. This one seemed insipid, bordering on ridiculous and the story was frustrating and sad. That said, a disappointing Trollope is still better than most other books.
October 9, 2018
Decidedly lesser Trollope, if for no other reason that for the plot to work he has to make Emily as dumb as a goddam brick, which makes it a stretch to care about her welfare. Seriously, at times she is at risk of becoming a parody of Christian teaching -- the "look at how disfunctional really living according to religious teaching would be, if anybody ever tried it" sort of thing -- which would be fine, except it's clearly not what Trollope was trying to do.
June 29, 2022
Disappointing. I love Anthony Trollope but he does this thing sometimes where some delicate maiden gives her heart to the wrong man and when she finds out he is a scoundrel, realizes she can't marry him but decides she could never possibly love again. In this particular novel she not only decides she can never love again but she goes from a happy and healthy heiress in her early 20s to dying in Italy after she discovers her former affianced has married someone else. Sure.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 21, 2016
Slow start, but then a great (short) work--despite a telegraphed ending.
"And of all the British authors who were writing at that time, there's one special British author I find especially sublime. Now Austin is awesome and Dickens is a kick. But no one packs a wallop quite like… Trollope." -- Dave's True Story, I'll Never Read Trollope Again.
"And of all the British authors who were writing at that time, there's one special British author I find especially sublime. Now Austin is awesome and Dickens is a kick. But no one packs a wallop quite like… Trollope." -- Dave's True Story, I'll Never Read Trollope Again.
June 26, 2022
This book (Sir Harry Hotspur) would not be a good introduction to Trollope. He's one of my favorite authors, but to me it felt rushed, repetitive, and a bit formulaic. It held my attention -- no problem there -- but it could put readers off of Trollope, and that would be a shame. Save this one for later.
November 13, 2025
Sir Harry Hotspur is a minor country landowner, proud of his name and his family’s long association with his two small estates. When his only son dies, he is faced with a dilemma: the title will now go to a second cousin, but he could choose to leave the property to his remaining child, a daughter. Ideally, the two young people would marry and keep the title and the land together, but unfortunately young George Hotspur is a bit of a scoundrel.
This is one of Trollope’s shorter and lesser known books. I picked it up as a freebie from Audible Plus. I enjoyed it – Sir Harry and George are both great characters in their different ways – but I did find the women of the family rather tiresome. The minor female characters are more fun. 3.5 stars rounded up.
This is one of Trollope’s shorter and lesser known books. I picked it up as a freebie from Audible Plus. I enjoyed it – Sir Harry and George are both great characters in their different ways – but I did find the women of the family rather tiresome. The minor female characters are more fun. 3.5 stars rounded up.
December 6, 2020
Short, simple, sad tale masterfully crafted. Most of the story takes place inside the heads of the small cast of characters, there is hardly any description, but much indecision, stubbornness, self-delusion, pride, serendipity, and - notwithstanding the evident prejudices of the 1870s - understanding, kindness and humanity. And you are there with them completely. Here is an excerpt where the author describes those who degenerate from a life of pleasure to alcoholism: ‘... of all human beings they are the most to be pitied. They have intellects; they do think; the hours with them are terribly long; - and they have no hope!’ It reminded me of some of the friends and colleagues who did not make it to 2020
December 19, 2022
Audible Plus 7 hours 48 min. Narrated by Tony Britton (A+)
Almost a 5 star listen! I've only gotten to know Anthony Trollope in the last few years and have been impressed with his writing. He seems to understand human nature so well and though we may not always find his characters fleshed out fully, they represent so well the attitudes prevalent during his lifetime in England and Ireland. I just found a number of his books on Audible Plus to carry me through the periods when my credits have been used. Unfortunately the one I most want to listen to He Knew He Was Right will still cost me a credit. The title intrigues me.
Review tomorrow after I get my new glasses!
Almost a 5 star listen! I've only gotten to know Anthony Trollope in the last few years and have been impressed with his writing. He seems to understand human nature so well and though we may not always find his characters fleshed out fully, they represent so well the attitudes prevalent during his lifetime in England and Ireland. I just found a number of his books on Audible Plus to carry me through the periods when my credits have been used. Unfortunately the one I most want to listen to He Knew He Was Right will still cost me a credit. The title intrigues me.
Review tomorrow after I get my new glasses!
April 28, 2023
I nearly gave this a three star but the writing is subtle and the prose elegant. There were moments that hinted at a Mayor of Casterbridge style self destructive tragedy. Parts didn’t convince me, mostly relating to Emily Hotspur. I found her love implausible and her behaviour ridiculous and insufferable. Aaaagh. She is the most unconvincing Trollope character I’ve come across so far.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 16, 2025
Trollope has always been one of my absolute favourites and I've read and re-read the Barsetshire Chronicles and the Palliser novels numerous times. This was new to me, generally seen to be one of his 'lesser' novels, and having read it I can see why. It was certainly an easy enough read, all the requisite elements were there, but it came across as a competent pastiche of Trollope by a lesser writer rather than a work by the great man himself. Stick with his greatest hits.
August 14, 2019
I love Trollope, not so much his clergymen, but his minor gentry and bourgeoisie with their intrigues over marriage and estates are fabulous. And he wrote so many books that there is no chance that I will be able to make an appreciable dent in them in my lifetime. I am close to having read all of Dickens after many many years (I think that only Barnaby Rudge and Our Mutual Friend remain unread), but I will never ever get close to making that claim with Trollope. The only other author that I can think of with similar fecundity to Trolope is Balzac.
Sir Harry Hotspur is just the kind of Trollope novel that I love. It is a story of good people whose noble characteristics are also their tragic flaws. In the case of the title character, his respect for his family name and honor that has been the foundation for an admirable life ultimately becomes the fulcrum for the family tragedy. And his beautiful and virtuous daughter Emily is perfectly true to her heart and her vows so that she inevitably comes to grief when her love is misplaced on a the family black sheep, George Hotspur, who is charming and handsome but totally lacking any other redeeming feature, as he is a cheat, a spendthrift, a libertine, a gambler and a liar. It's a simple formula for a story, but it works beautifully. All of the characters are full of life, wonderfully drawn and believable. The good ones are all just a bit flawed and deluded, and George has enough superficial redeeming features to make him attractive so that Emily's love for him is believeable. He even had me rooting for him and hoping for his redemption at points in the story.
Sir Harry Hotspur is just the kind of Trollope novel that I love. It is a story of good people whose noble characteristics are also their tragic flaws. In the case of the title character, his respect for his family name and honor that has been the foundation for an admirable life ultimately becomes the fulcrum for the family tragedy. And his beautiful and virtuous daughter Emily is perfectly true to her heart and her vows so that she inevitably comes to grief when her love is misplaced on a the family black sheep, George Hotspur, who is charming and handsome but totally lacking any other redeeming feature, as he is a cheat, a spendthrift, a libertine, a gambler and a liar. It's a simple formula for a story, but it works beautifully. All of the characters are full of life, wonderfully drawn and believable. The good ones are all just a bit flawed and deluded, and George has enough superficial redeeming features to make him attractive so that Emily's love for him is believeable. He even had me rooting for him and hoping for his redemption at points in the story.
June 20, 2021
Misguided Love
This is a very short novel by Victorian standards with only one major plotline. The Sir Harry of the title is an older man who has lost his son and made his beloved only daughter, Emily, his heiress. Emily wants to marry her impoverished cousin, George Hotspur, but Sir Harry forbids the match because of George's bad reputation. Who will win the battle of wills between father and daughter?
Trollope tells this simple plot in an unusual way so the story doesn't play out as you might expect. Neither of the young lovers are sympathetic characters. George is realistically portrayed as a selfish and worthless young man who always blames others for his own misfortunes. Priggish Emily tries to get her own way in a manner we might now call passive-aggressive. Trollope had a bit of a thing about women only being able to love once - a pause here while we all think what our lives would be like if we were stuck with the first person we had a crush on. Emily is convinced that she knows best but Trollope's sympathies are with Emily's worried parents and with George's mistress, a hardworking actress who knows all George's faults but still loves him. The impossibility of talking anyone out of loving the wrong person is a theme it is still easy to relate to. In this bleak novel, Trollope challenges his readers' expectations of a happy ending.
This is a very short novel by Victorian standards with only one major plotline. The Sir Harry of the title is an older man who has lost his son and made his beloved only daughter, Emily, his heiress. Emily wants to marry her impoverished cousin, George Hotspur, but Sir Harry forbids the match because of George's bad reputation. Who will win the battle of wills between father and daughter?
Trollope tells this simple plot in an unusual way so the story doesn't play out as you might expect. Neither of the young lovers are sympathetic characters. George is realistically portrayed as a selfish and worthless young man who always blames others for his own misfortunes. Priggish Emily tries to get her own way in a manner we might now call passive-aggressive. Trollope had a bit of a thing about women only being able to love once - a pause here while we all think what our lives would be like if we were stuck with the first person we had a crush on. Emily is convinced that she knows best but Trollope's sympathies are with Emily's worried parents and with George's mistress, a hardworking actress who knows all George's faults but still loves him. The impossibility of talking anyone out of loving the wrong person is a theme it is still easy to relate to. In this bleak novel, Trollope challenges his readers' expectations of a happy ending.
June 7, 2017
Trollope had to search for something to say in this. Unfortunately his search kept landing him in the same spot and he became repetitive. Emily Hotspur was an heiress and George Hotspur was a bad man. There aren't a lot of ways to say that the girl is worth £20,000 per year, but there are lots of ways a man can be bad. It was still £20,000 and still bad even when approached from different angles.
So why is the person in the title Sir Harry Hotspur? He is Emily's father and George's cousin. Emily can fall in love with anyone she wants, but may marry only who her father says she may marry. It is in this way that Trollope gives us something worthwhile. In many of my travels through 19th Century literature the subject of whether a person can inherit - is even required by law to inherit - may be the axle on which a novel turns. This novel speaks to the issue directly. There is the issue of both the title and the income.
I felt all along that the ending was inevitable. Trollope still had a surprise or two up his sleeve.
So why is the person in the title Sir Harry Hotspur? He is Emily's father and George's cousin. Emily can fall in love with anyone she wants, but may marry only who her father says she may marry. It is in this way that Trollope gives us something worthwhile. In many of my travels through 19th Century literature the subject of whether a person can inherit - is even required by law to inherit - may be the axle on which a novel turns. This novel speaks to the issue directly. There is the issue of both the title and the income.
I felt all along that the ending was inevitable. Trollope still had a surprise or two up his sleeve.
June 28, 2022
Typical Trollope in many respects, but unusual it two ways. First, there's its brevity; only one main plot governs the whole book. Second, there is its grimness. Trollope rarely goes tragic, though his later books (this is one) can be dark. Here, what looks like it will be a typical redeemed by love story (George Hotspur is a very "black sheep," whose cousin Emily falls in love with him, and it typical Trollope fashion, is now therefore bound irrevocably to him) goes horribly awry, ending drastically for all. Emily is a pretty typical flat Victorian ingenue/heroine, but both the eponymous character and George are also typically Trollopian figures, one torn between conflicting duties, the other between positive and negative impulses, and both are crafted with the pellucid precision at which Trollope excels. Far form one of Trollope's best-known novels, but quite fine.
June 12, 2024
That ending was way to0 melodramatic for me. I could see it coming but really hoped that was not where Trollope was actually going.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 94 reviews