It took quite some time to read this but it was really worth all of it. The basic premise is the court case of Orley Farm, was there a codicil to the will leaving it to young Lucius Mason? But that is really just the jumping off point for so many plots and characters and wonderful writing. Most of the story centers around the character of Lady Mason but the lawyers and judges and witnesses and their associated stories are all woven into the narrative and I think it is a great credit to the skill of Trollope that he manages to keep it all moving forward. Another enjoyable foray into the Trollope project.

I loved this story of a young widow, persecuted by her deceased husband's oldest son for trying to do right by her baby. Trollope creates some characters so endearing and realistic, that you the reader feel what was his love for his creation. The ups and downs of a handful of lives of a little country community in England made me become so entwined in the story, that I had more than once to remind myself that they were fictional. And yet, sadly, in the end, trollope did me dirty when he spoke of a rejected young man who took himself off to Central Africa to forget his sorrows by taking the lives of more beautiful creatures than he surely ever was:
"Peregrine did as he said, and went abroad, extending his travels to many wild countries, in which, as he used to say, anyone else would have been in danger. No danger ever came to him - so at least he frequently wrote word to his mother. Gorillas he slew by scores, lions by hundreds, and elephants sufficient for an ivory palace. The skins, and bones, and other trophies, he sent home in various ships; and when he appeared in London as a lion, no man doubted his word. but then he did not write a book, nor even give lectures; nor did he presume to know much about the huge brutes he had slain, except that they were pervious powder and ball."
P.735

I could have said"farewell" to this work of love easily without knowing about the beautiful animals that a disappointed spoiled little rich boy murdered, Trollope. ( )

I liked this standalone novel by one of my favorite authors. The plot of Orley Farm centers around a 20 year old disputed will. At issue is whether a codicil that granted Orley Farm, one small portion of the estate, to the only infant son of a second marriage was forged by this baby's mother, Lady Mason. When Lucius Mason grows up and tries to kick a tenant off his land, this tenant discovers old documents that throw doubt on the codicil being authentic. A new trial ensues.

The crux of this book is the ethics of defense lawyers defending clients that they know or assume to be guilty. Also, of course, forgiveness, redemption, and fairness even when the fair outcome doesn't benefit the parties we might wish based on personality.

I really liked this one and I think the strong focus of the plot might make it a more memorable one of Trollope's novels for me. I believe this is the 18th novel I've read by [[Trollope]]. ( )

Lady Mason wanted her son to inherit Orley Farm rather than her husband's older son by a previous marriage. She found a means to do this which was contested both at the time and twenty years later. Your sins will find you out. I did not enjoy this book. The overdone prose and slow-moving plot kept me wanting the three chapters a day to be over long before I completed the first chapter. Boring! ( )

When her son Lucius was an infant, Lady Mason defended the codicil to her much older husband’s will which left his Orley Farm property to Lady Mason’s son, Lucius. Sir Joseph’s heir, Joseph Mason of Groby Park, nursed a grudge against his stepmother and half-brother for two decades. Upon taking possession of the property at age 21, Lucius Mason decides to turn out tenant Samuel Dockwrath from two fields that he has farmed for years. Dockwrath, who is also a lawyer, sets out in revenge to wrest the property from Lucius Mason and put it in the hands of Joseph Mason of Groby Park.

In the face of a new trial, Lady Mason turns to her closest neighbors for support – Sir Peregrine Orme and his daughter-in-law, Mrs. Orme. Lady Mason was defended by barrister Furnival in her previous trial, and she once again seeks his services. Mr. Furnival has an eye for a pretty lady, and he unhesitatingly accepts Lady Mason’s appeal for his services, to his wife’s great dismay.

Lucius Mason is one of a group of young people whose affairs of the heart become entangled. Lucius is in love with Mr. Furnival’s daughter, Sophia, whose hand is also sought by Judge Stavely’s son, Augustus. Sir Peregrine Orme’s grandson, another Peregrine, is hopelessly in love with Madeline Stavely. His rival for Madeline’s affection is Felix Graham, a young attorney who is too honest to succeed in his chosen profession.

Trollope had a point to hammer in this novel regarding the English justice system and the disconnect between legal guilt and innocence and moral guilt and innocence. For all intents and purposes, Lady Mason is the protagonist, with Madeline Stavely and her suitors and Sophia Furnival and her suitors as subplots. Yet Trollope writes as if (or perhaps as if his readers will expect that) the young people are the central characters. I think this is why the pacing felt uneven to me. Lucius’ character also seems underdeveloped given his importance to both his mother’s central dilemma and the romance sub-plot. Lucius was more absent than present so that I feel like I saw his persona and not the inner man. ( )