Trollope's second novel, published in 1848, and not the breakthrough he was hoping for (that would only come with The Warden, seven years later). With hindsight, the middle of the great famine was a spectacularly tactless moment to publish a pleasant social comedy set in rural Ireland, and Trollope obviously didn't do himself any favours by setting the opening chapter in the public gallery at the 1844 trial of Daniel O'Connell — very much old news by 1848, as O'Connell had died in obscurity the previous year, and it also gave readers the misleading idea that this was going to be a political novel. The subtitle, "landlords and tenants", also promises a wider social range than the book actually delivers: the tenants in this case (the Kellys) are very middle-class, while the O'Kelly landlords are superficially-anglicised country squires, only a rung or so higher on the social ladder, and more or less level with their tenants economically.

There are some signs of beginner's clumsiness — Martin Kelly's elder brother John, for instance, introduced in the opening pages as though he were a major character, but then never mentioned again — but overall Trollope gives us a very pleasant and readable story, with plenty of glimpses of what is to come. There's the splendid fox-hunting parson, Mr Armstrong, who through the absurdities of an established protestant church in a catholic country, has precisely one parishioner outside his own family (which is arranged along the lines of that of the future Parson Quiverfull). Or that gloriously dignified bear of very little brain, the Earl of Cashel, "ruling the world of nothingness around by the silent solemnity of his inertia". Or Mrs O'Kelly, "a very small woman, with no particularly developed character, and perhaps of no very general utility."

We get a fox-hunting chapter, a lot of dialect, and far more detailed financial transactions than we could possibly want, but we all know that's part of the price we have to pay for enjoying Trollope, and put up with it. And there are some nice surprises, too. This is possibly the only place in Victorian fiction where a lawyer is significantly less dastardly than his client, for instance. And whilst Trollope uses the conventional idea of parallel "high" and "low" plots, he resists the temptation to play the low plot for laughs and give all the dignity to his upper-class characters: dignity and absurdity are even-handedly distributed on both sides of the social divide — and in any case, he wants us to see that the social divide in an Irish provincial setting is really much smaller than English readers would have imagined.

Not mature Trollope, not a place to start if you haven't read him before, but good fun and definitely worth a look. ( )

This early Trollope novel concerns two romances – that of Francis O’Kelly, Lord Ballindine, and Fanny Wyndham, and of Lord Ballindine’s tenant, Martin Kelly, and Anastasia “Anty” Lynch. At the instigation of her guardian, Lord Cashel, Fanny has broken off her engagement with Frank. Fanny is hurt that Frank seems to show more interest in race horses than in herself, not realizing that his apparent neglect is at least partly due to her guardian’s interference. It’s not smooth sailing for Martin and Anty, either. Anty’s father’s will gave her an equal share with her brother in their father’s estate. Barry Lynch will stop at nothing to get his hands on his sister’s inheritance.

Trollope is already exploring themes that he will develop better in his Barsetshire and Palliser novels. This isn’t the place to start with Trollope, but it’s interesting to compare this with his later and better works to trace his development as an author. ( )

I read this early Trollope novel with a group read led by Liz, always a rewarding experience. This is set in Ireland - different than I'm used to reading from Trollope, where I'm used to an English setting. There's a bit more mixing between the social spheres here. I also felt the characters were a little more one-sided than in Trollope's later novels.

This novel revolves around two women, Fanny and Anty, who inherit large fortunes and therefore become the target of marriage. There is manipulation and threat from those who stand to benefit if they don't marry or marry differently than they would prefer.

I liked this, and it's interesting to see the early seeds of Trollope's later excellence, but I wouldn't say it is quite present yet. Enjoyable, certainly, but most likely to be enjoyed by those with a good grounding in Trollope already. ( )

At last I have finished. It is a lesser novel, but a lesser novel by a great author is usually worth the effort and this was. The setting and the timing, the west of Ireland (Mayo, Clare) a scant year before the famine took hold made it an uncomfortable read at time. The portrait of the anglo gentry is generally unflattering--their self-absorption and callousness evident, although Trollope, being fair has good men and women among them. Nor was he insensitive to the plight of the ordinary Irish--O'Connelll is tried sentenced to prison during the course of the story. The story concerns itself with two romances within the Kelly clan--one branch converted to Protestant and now titled, the other not, but doing well enough. Both young men are decent fellows and know each other slightly. Both the sought after women are heiresses, and in both stories, the young man must prove he loves the woman for herself not just her money. In both stories there are unscrupulous family members who scheme to get that money for themselves. I suppose, now that I think about it, Trollope was making the point that there was little difference between the players than the accents and the amounts of money at stake. And Trollope himself makes it clear he has no religious prejudice. The best character in the book is the Protestant minister, George Armstrong who briskly enters the novel in the second half at a fox hunt and proceeds to save the day. Trollope chose to render the Irish speech through fanciful spelling that was off-putting, but he wasn't alone in the attempt even though the speech patterns themselves would have sufficed. I stuck with the novel because it was Trollope and the portrait of Ireland at that time was great for me, but it was awkward -- and, I understand, an early effort. As such, not bad! *** ( )

Comedy-melodrama written early in Trollope's career, and set in the Ireland of early 1844 (i.e., just before the Great Hunger). The plot revolves around two separate cases where men are eyeing marriage to heiresses, in spite of competition (a lord that wants, in effect, a bailout of his scapegrace son, and a greedy elder brother). Pretty much what you'd expect from the plot, with a lot of tears, and emotional words, but what saves this is the setting, which evokes the Ireland of just before, as I say, the Great Hunger, and just before the Anglo-Irish Ascendancy was to start to lose its power. The way Trollope transliterates Irish English might be "stage Irishmen" to some, though many of the phrases he uses are the authentic thing (and were still in use in 20th century Ireland). The grasping nature of (some) Irish peasants is also true to life, based on what has been told to me by my family. A very readable early work, though not for everyone. ( )