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Lady Anna

Anthony Trollope

Discussion: Dramatic Novels

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Dramatic Novels

The Way We Live Now
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last updated Sep 28, 2016 05:22PM

Sir Harry Hotspur of Humblethwaite
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last updated Sep 26, 2015 02:28PM

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Jan 31, 2015 Jane rated it really liked it · review of another edition

‘Lady Anna’ was published in 1874 after, quite remarkably, Trollope wrote it from start to finish on a voyage to Australia.

He said:

“‘Lady Anna’ is the best thing I ever wrote! Very much! Quite far away above all others!”

I’m not sure that I agree with him, but I do understand why he thought that it was special, and I did like it very much.

“Lovel Grange is a small house, surrounded by a small domain,—small as being the residence of a rich nobleman, lying among the mountains which separate Cumberla ...more

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Aug 20, 2023 Brian E Reynolds rated it liked it

The book is about a romantic triangle with concomitant estate, royal title and class conflict issues. Josephine and Anna Murray/Lovel are seeking recognition as the legitimate wife and daughter of a recently deceased and profligate Lord Lovel. The mother covets the title, mainly for the legacy of her daughter being recognized as Lady Anna Lovel. A fortune comes with that recognition. Their claim is resisted by the profligate Lord’s successor, Lord Fred.
The daughter Anna could care less about th The book is about a romantic triangle with concomitant estate, royal title and class conflict issues. Josephine and Anna Murray/Lovel are seeking recognition as the legitimate wife and daughter of a recently deceased and profligate Lord Lovel. The mother covets the title, mainly for the legacy of her daughter being recognized as Lady Anna Lovel. A fortune comes with that recognition. Their claim is resisted by the profligate Lord’s successor, Lord Fred.
The daughter Anna could care less about the title or money. She is engaged to a childhood friend Daniel who is a tailor and a political radical. The major suspense involves whether Anna will choose to marry Daniel, a fairly coarse, hard-headed fellow who loves her or, as every other person advises, marry young Lord Fred, a choice that will also settle the lawsuit. The story is set at the time of the 1832 Reform act and Daniel is a radical, but the political aspects of the story turn out to be fairly inconsequential.
This romantic triangle is a fine premise but an insufficient one to sustain a 500-page novel by itself. Scenes and event steps seemed stretched out at times redundant. The novel needed to be shorter or contain the side plots that Trollope often adds to a main plot.
The characterization also was not strong. I never thought well enough of the characters to invest in their fate. The key flaw is the failure to convince me that Lady Anna was a heroine worthy of the sympathy needed to make this a compelling story.
The climax of the story was a bit over-the-top but perhaps needed to be so to save the story from being too dull. After the climax, Trollope unveiled a very satisfying denouement, but the story improvement at the end did not sufficiently counter the prior mediocre characterization and storytelling. I do like Trollope’s writing especially for his sharp personal and societal commentary sprinkled throughout his books. This novel did contain many such comments and they did elicit some needed smiles.
I’ve enjoyed all the Trollope novels I read. So, while I enjoyed this novel, it was one of, if not the, least estimable of the 23 Trollope novels I have read. Despite Trollope’s pleasing denouement and always enjoyable commentary, the storytelling and characterization weaknesses make this a 3-star rather than a 4-star novel.

The following is how I have rated Trollope stand-alones, listed in order of their overall GR rating.
--MY *----—--GR -----
RATING------RATING------------ NOVEL
--5----------4.06 ---------- The Way We Live Now
--4----------4.04 ---------- The Vicar of Bullhampton
--4----------4.00 ---------- The Claverings
--4----------3.97 ---------- Ayala's Angel
--4----------3.94 ---------- Orley Farm
--4----------3.91 ---------- Miss Mackenzie
--3----------3.88 ---------- He Knew He Was Right
--3----------3.84 ---------- Dr. Wortle's School
--3----------3.81 ---------- Rachel Ray
--3----------3.69 ---------- Lady Anna
--4----------3.06 ---------- The Fixed Period ...more

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