Doctor Thorne (1858)

Not quite as humorous as Trollope's Barchester Towers but still a fun look at English country society especially in regards to the ever-present need to marry money! A satirical look at the extent to which money will excuse or obstruct breeding and manners (good and bad) in the matrimonial plans of both young people and their families. ( )

I enjoyed so much of this book, but after finishing it, I wish I'd never read it. It exposes, and not in a satirical way, the appalling morals of Victorian society.

The story is essentially of two families. The doctor and his niece and some titled, but impoverished gentry who live at far, far beyond their means. The niece has been brought up with the gentry but when the heir wants to marry her, she and her doctor uncle are banished from even visiting the gentry's place by Lady Arabella who does everything she can to get her son to marry money. She needs to restore the family's fortune, to clear huge debts, to ensure that she and her husband will have money to live on and their son won't actually have to do something as disgusting and low as work. He says he will work for money but confesses that as a squire's son he is fit for nothing and happily accepts a promise of money from a family friend. It is also revealed that Mary, the doctor's niece is not only poor but illegitimate.

Shortly afterwards it turns out that Mary is not only heir to a fortune but also, along with the fortune, comes the money to be repaid by Lady Arabella - the huge debt she owed. Lord Gresham says that money overcomes the stains of birth of the low-born. How expedient! Suddenly it is 'Dearest, dearest Mary, my daughter' from Lady Arabella and everyone is terribly, terribly happy.

Sick. No other word for it.

But times have changed. The future king of England met his wife when she was modelling a transparent dress over bra and knickers in a university fashion show. Her mother was an air hostess (you know, 'come fly me') and has built up a mail-order party budget-minded party business. They thoroughly exploited the fact that their daughter's wedding into the royal family and will someday become Queen of England by producing 1,833 items for sale, ranging from drink stirrers, to lottery tickets and commemorative plates. Obviously this is acceptable to Queen Elizabeth II, but judging by Trollope's story of the Greshams, it would probably have caused Queen Victoria to keel over in an apopolectic shock and thereby ushered in the louche Edwardian era and modern times a little sooner.

To sum up, a very well-written and enjoyable book that can best be recommended to those who didn't read the spoiler or snobs of the very worst kind! (Or die-hard Trollope fans like me). ( )

Not quite as humorous as Trollope's Barchester Towers but still a fun look at English country society especially in regards to the ever-present need to marry money! A satirical look at the extent to which money will excuse or obstruct breeding and manners (good and bad) in the matrimonial plans of both young people and their families. ( )

In this third volume of the Chronicles of Barsetshire, Anthony Trollope leaves behind familiar characters from the first two novels, and introduces his readers to an entirely new cast. The eponymous Doctor Thorne serves an area of Barsetshire that includes Greshamsbury and the Gresham family, which includes Frank, who has recently come of age. Thorne lives with his niece Mary, who is about Frank's age. Can you see where this is going? Of course, but that's not the point. It's the journey to the inevitable ending that makes reading Trollope so much fun.

In Doctor Thorne, Frank's father has fallen into debt, and the family's only hope is for Frank to marry money. Mary is of humble birth, or so everyone believes. But Doctor Thorne has a long-held a secret about her origins, and he is far too ethical to spill the beans. Besides, if he did there would be no novel! Frank loves Mary and cares nothing about her class, but Frank's mother, the haughty Lady Arabella, is constantly scheming to keep Frank and Mary apart and introduce Frank to wealthy women. Doctor Thorne stays out of it, trusting everyone to do the right thing but defending Mary when her honor is challenged:
"Why should I object? It is for you, Lady Arabella, to look after your lambs; for me to see that, if possible, no harm shall come to mine. If you think that Mary is an improper acquaintance for your children, it is for you to guide them; for you and their father. Say what you think fit to your own daughter; but pray understand, once for all, that I will allow no one to interfere with my niece."

Trollope infuses this novel with his trademark wit. For example, he lets us know early on just what sort of woman is Lady Arabella:
Of course Lady Arabella could not suckle the young heir herself. Ladies Arabella never can. They are gifted with the powers of being mothers, but not nursing-mothers. Nature gives them bosoms for show, but not for use. So Lady Arabella had a wet-nurse.

Trollope guides us through several twists and turns, over more than 500 pages sprinkled with quips like this, before Frank and Mary are finally united. It's all good fun making for a very pleasurable, satisfying read. ( )

Although romance is at the center of Doctor Thorne, the male protagonist, Doctor Thorne, is not the romantic lead. He's the uncle of Mary Thorne, who comes to live with him in her early adolescence. Unknown to almost everyone except Doctor Thorne and the reader, Mary is the illegitimate daughter of Thorne's brother and a working class girl. Mary is allowed to continue her education with the Gresham children, whose father, the squire, is the leading figure in local society. Inevitably, the squire's only son and heir, Frank, falls in love with Mary. However, Frank isn't free to marry whomever he chooses. Because of the squire's financial problems, the family insists that Frank must marry money, leaving Frank with an impossible choice. Why won't Doctor Thorne intervene? He and the reader know something that the other characters don't, something that might change everything...

There are similarities between Mary Thorne's situation and Harriet Smith's situation in Emma. Emma ignored Harriet's lack of family connection and wealth and encouraged Harriet to aspire to marry above her station, almost ensuring that Harriet wouldn't marry at all. Doctor Thorne was less impulsive than Emma, but no less at fault. Harriet was of marriageable age when Emma took her on as a matchmaking project. Mary was still a child when she came to live with her uncle. He failed to think about what would happen when Mary reached adulthood.

This was a tiny bit of a letdown after Barchester Towers. I missed the church politics and all of the wonderfully flawed characters in the ranks of the clergy. The de Courcy women, including Lady Arabella Gresham, could learn a thing or two from Mrs. Proudie. Still, it's Trollope so it's entertaining and at times laugh-out-loud funny. Even the names of the characters can bring a smile to your face – Miss Gushing, Dr. Fillgrave, Mr. Reddypalm, Mr. Nearthewinde. Readers who enjoy Victorian historical fiction should give Trollope a try. ( )