The Duke's Children

Always sad to end a substantial series, as the Palliser political novels are. You invest so much in them, and the characters become akin to friends. This is the particular magic of the novel, and in a lengthy series such as this, the effect is amplified.

In this instance, unfortunately, the final novel felt a bit tacked on to the end. Really, the Palliser series is about the Duke of Omnium and his circle of political friends and hangers on. The children really don't excite much interest and the final instalment does not provide anything all that different.

Apart from Lord Silverbridge, heir to the Dukedom, bucking the established natural order of things and marrying a beautiful American of questionable familial origin, this felt like a novel that Trollope felt he had to write, just to round out the series. ( )

Abandoned. Lady Mabel Grex's fate was too depressing. Why does Trollope throw so many women under the bus?

The final book of the Palliser series - and I feel a sense of loss in parting from the characters I have grown to know and enjoy over the last couple of thousand pages. As is standard for Trollope, the plot is not complex and there is no suspense but he paints such rich pictures of the upper class and delivers believable characters. Wonderful stuff. Read April 2011. ( )

I enjoy reading Trollope's novels, but I always feel like I've achieved something when I get to the end of one! That feeling was particularly enhanced when I finished The Duke's Children, since it is the last of the Palliser series, which I found harder going than the Barsetshire Chronicles, probably because the political aspect of the novels didn't really interest me.

I was surprised when Lady Glencora was killed off at the beginning of this novel, and also surprised to discover that I missed her; previously she hadn't been a particular favourite of mine. I found her children a rather irritating bunch, especially her sons, but nonetheless the story was entertaining enough.

I'd read more Trollope, but I'd definitely recommend his Barsetshire novels over the Palliser series. ( )

fiction, english literature, literature, Trollope ( )