Tristram of Blent

by Anthony Hope

Harry Tristram discovers that his mother's marriage to his father occurred a day before her first husband's death, rendering him illegitimate. Therefore, the family hereditary title goes to the Lady Cecily, whom he loves.

426 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1901

About the author

Prolific English novelist and playwright Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins especially composed adventure. People remember him best only for the book The Prisoner of Zenda (1894) and its sequel Rupert of Hentzau (1898). These works, "minor classics" of English literature, set in the contemporaneous fictional country of Ruritania, spawned the genre, known as Ruritanian romance. Zenda inspired many adaptations, most notably the Hollywood movie of 1937 of the same name.

Reviews

[Guy Winter · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is not a lost treasure, but a lost chauvinist anachronism... The hero, Tristram of Blent, is almost insanely arrogant and unlikable, driven by a demented sense of the importance of his own family that is indulged both by the author (who secretly encourages him) and the dilettante cast of characters around him. All the women, however otherwise appealing and sensible, are completely in thrall to him from the start and pander to his fairly inconsequential obsession with his house. The one iota of interest is from a Victorian property transaction, but this is no Forsyte Saga!