The Duke's Children

Lady Glendora has died and the Duke is beside himself with grief. Plus, his children are not behaving as he would like. His daughter, Mary, is in love with a penniless commoner(albeit a classmate of his son Silverbridge and a prospective member of Parliament) Frank Tregear. His younger son Gerald, is at Cambridge, but seeming to lead a rackety life. And most disappointing, his eldest son and heir, Silverbridge, has been sent down from Oxford for painting the deans house red and now is in partnership with the dubious Major Tiflis in the ownership of a race horse. Nothing could be worse until Silverbridge decides to throw over the beautiful Lady Mabel Griex for an even more beautiful American heiress Isabel Boncasson.

The Duke is full of show more high-minded principles and is determined to stand firm. Yet he doesn't expect that his children are prepared to be even more stubborn in defense of their more modern ideas

This last of Trollope's Palliser novels is a joy to read and puts the perfect t bow on this most entertaining family saga. show less

I was discouraged when one of my favorite Trollope characters, Lady Glencora, dies unexpectedly in the first chapter of this, the last of the Palliser series. But gradually I warmed to the story of the Duke's challenges in the mostly unfamiliar role of shepherding his almost-grown children to full adulthood.

Lord Silverbridge, the eldest, has been expelled from Oxford for a prank, is involved with an unsavory character who co-owns a race horse with him, and espouses conservative politics and seeks to get elected to Parliament from the local district as a conservative (his father, who had been the prime minister, had always been a liberal). His father wants him to settle down and get married, and is relieved when he mentions his show more intention to marry Lady Mabel Grex. But she turns him down (although she actually comes to want to marry him), and Silverbridge falls in love with an American girl, Isabel Bocassen, whose father is studying at the British Library.

Lady Mary, the next child, has fallen in love with Silverbridge's closest friend, Francis (Frank) Treager, who is completely unsuitable, according to the Duke's way of thinking, because he has no money and no title. Much of the novel is devoted to Mary's pining away for Treager and her "obstinate" refusal to consider any other suitor. Gerald, the youngest, gets kicked out of Cambridge, runs up a huge gambling debt, and ultimately is admitted to Oxford. He gets the shortest shrift, the novel basically being about Silverbridge and Mary.

Of course, as in any Trollope novel, there are subplots, but this book, of all that I've read so far, makes least use of them. The book is basically about how the Duke comes to accept his children's marriage choices, influenced by several others including the always delightful Mrs. Finn, largely because he comes to realize that he wants to see them happy. But it is also about the difference between English and American attitudes towards marriage, the role of women and the need for poor women to marry someone with money even if they love someone poor, horse racing, and hunting.

I am sorry to leave the Pallisers; next up the Barsetshires. show less

2012, Blackstone Audiobooks, Read by Simon Vance

I prolonged the last few chapters of this last of the Palliser novels as long as I could, not wanting the series to end, not wanting to have to say goodbye to the cast of characters I’ve come to know and love so well …

The well-loved Duchess of Omnium, Lady Glen, is gone now, and the Duke is left to care for his three children, all young adults by this time. The eldest, Lord Silverbridge, has been dismissed from Oxford on account of some certain trouble involving the Dean’s home and red paint. The Duke’s second son, Lord Gerald, is doing moderately well at Cambridge. And Lady Mary, his only daughter, seems intent on what her father deems an unsuitable marriage.

As the story show more progresses, the Duke will be called upon to guide and to discipline each of his children; and he will be hard pressed to reconsider his previously ironclad notion of “duty.” He comes to share in his children’s joy in a way that the most hard-hearted could only admire, but the getting there – well, there’s the story. Silverbridge and Lady Mary will tax their father to near his wits end with the matter of marriages he deems not befitting their station. When Silverbridge is refused by the suitable Lady Mabel Grex, he falls in love with an independent, spirited American, Isabelle Boncassen. Lady Mary declares she will have no other than Frank Tregear, a young and ambitious, but penniless, politician. The Duke is astounded “that an almost penniless young gentleman was asking in marriage the daughter of the richest and greatest nobleman in England.” (Ch 5) If this weren’t enough headache, Silverbridge enters an ill-fated partnership in the ownership of an ill-fated racehorse with one Major Tifto, “a nasty, brawling, boasting, ill-conditioned little reptile.” (Ch 17) And Lord Gerald is expelled from Oxford whereupon he turns shamefully to the gaming tables and becomes deeply indebted to a family acquaintance.

My favourite quotes are the two following in which the Duke speaks of duty and station, and of money. In the first, he is speaking of his disapproval of Lady Mary’s association with Frank Tregear. And in the second, he is addressing Lord Gerald on the subject of money, following his son’s gambling losses.

On duty/station:
“Disapprove of it! How could it be otherwise? Of course you felt that. There are ranks in life in which the first comer that suits a maiden's eye may be accepted as a fitting lover. I will not say but that they who are born to such a life may be the happier. They are, I am sure, free from troubles to which they are incident whom fate has called to a different sphere. But duty is—duty;—and whatever pang it may cost, duty should be performed.” (Ch 41)

On money:
“Do you ever think what money is? … Money is the reward of labour," said the Duke, "or rather, in the shape it reaches you, it is your representation of that reward. You may earn it yourself, or, as is, I am afraid, more likely to be the case with you, you may possess it honestly as prepared for you by the labour of others who have stored it up for you. But it is a commodity of which you are bound to see that the source is not only clean but noble.” (Ch 65)

The Duke’s Children is a brilliant conclusion to Trollope’s “Parliamentary Novels.” To Simon Vance, with whom I’ve spent so much time – and adored every moment of it – perhaps the best compliment I can offer is that he comes as highly recommended as the venerable author. Most highly recommended – the whole series! But I think this one was my favourite. show less

For those of you reading or planning to read the Palliser series, I'll say that I loved this book and you won't be disappointed if you love Trollope. But I can't review this without revealing a major spoiler that happens at the beginning of the book. So skip the rest if you've not yet read this.

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OK, so, I knew this, but my favorite, Lady Glencora, dies at the very beginning of this book. Boo. So right off the bat I was sure that I wouldn't like this book as much as some of the others. Also, Phineas Finn isn't in it at all except for the briefest of appearances. Another negative. Instead, this is the story of Plantagenet Palliser, the Duke, attempting to parent his newly adult children on his own. He has two sons and a show more daughter and all are giving him trouble. His eldest son, Silverbridge, wants to switch political parties away from the traditional family party, loses 70,000 pounds horse racing, and decides he wants to marry an American, Isabel Boncassen, instead of Lady Mabel Grex who his father prefers. His younger son Gerald gets kicked out of school and also racks up some gambling debts. His daughter, Mary, wants to marry the nameless and penniless Gerald Tregear.

Most of the plot revolves around a rather complex love "triangle", though it's more of a pentagon. Lady Mabel Grex and Gerald Tregear had an early, youthful love but the practically put it aside since neither has money. Lady Mabel clearly still is in love with Tregear, though he moves on to Mary Palliser who he both loves and has a lot of money potentially. Silverbridge first proposes to Lady Mabel who tries playing games and refuses him (intending to take him as her most palatable option besides Tregear in the end). When Silverbridge is refused, he meets Isabel and falls in love with her. This does not sit well with Lady Mabel.

In the end I was a tiny bit unsatisfied with this book as the end of the Palliser series. I didn't care as much about the characters and I didn't see the big picture themes as clearly as I have in other Trollope novels. I still loved the book and loved the series as a whole, but I didn't think this was the strongest of the set.

Nevertheless, I'm sad to see the Palliser novels finish. Good thing Trollope wrote about a million books so I have plenty more options! show less

While the Duke of Omnium stayed busy with his political career, the management of the children was largely left to his Duchess. After the Duchess's untimely death, the Duke is forced to take a more hands-on interest in his children's lives just as they've reached adulthood. Although he's been a distant father, he loves his children in his own way. He's financially generous to his children, and he's not a strict disciplinarian. It seems he has only one expectation for his children – that they marry well, meaning within the aristocracy. His children's inability or unwillingness to adhere to his standard adds to his grief after his wife's death.

Everyone but the Duke knows from the beginning of the novel how it will end. The novel is a show more character study with conflict arising from a “generation gap” in the midst of shifting social standards. Trollope was forced to cut a considerable portion of the novel prior to its original publication. Only recently has Trollope's original text been restored for publication. If I had to guess, I'd say that Trollope's cuts were made at the expense of the political portions of the novel. The earlier Palliser novels have more balance between politics and domestic life. Domestic/private life has more emphasis in this novel, and the political developments at the end of the novel come as a surprise. show less

In many respects the last novel of Anthony Trollope's "Palliser" series is about new beginnings -- particularly the beginning of adulthood and the changes that brings about. This is especially difficult for Plantagenet Palliser, the eponymous Duke of Omnium, who must serve as sole parent for his three children after the untimely death of his wife, Glencora. The focus of the novel is on the eldest son, Lord Silverbridge, and the daughter, Lady Mary, who are challenging the duke with their courses in life -- particularly those of matrimony, which the duke finds especially difficult to navigate.

It is not a criticism of the novel to say that it is not the best entry in the "Palliser" series. Perhaps this is because of the editing Trollope show more was forced to agree to (which led to the excising of a quarter of the novel) in order to publish it, and I am reserving final judgment until after I read the unexpurgated version, which is due to come out in a limited edition later this year, and will hopefully be published for a larger audience later on. As it is, though, it offers a frustrating sense of promise, as it seemed to me that he was introducing a new generation of characters to take on further adventures in the British political world that he wrote about so enjoyably in the previous novels in the series. Alas we are left only with this one, which will have to do as a conclusion to the world of the Pallisers. show less

Trollope, Anthony. The Duke’s Children. Palliser No. 6. 1880. Penguin, 1995.
In 1874, Lord Randolph Churchill married the daughter of an American speculator. It was a sensation at the time. She would become the mother of Winston Churchill. In 1879, Henry James had his first literary hit with Daisy Miller, a novella about a charming American tourist who dies of a fever in Rome. In 1880, Anthony Trollope, perhaps sensing a trend, published the sixth and last of his Palliser novels in which a charming American tourist is courted by the heir to the Palliser title. In 1881, Trollope’s novel would be overshadowed artistically by Henry James’ Portrait of a Lady, a novel about a charming American girl who makes a terrible marriage with an show more American ex-patriate in Italy. Poor Trollope, he was a writer who knew his audience and was quick on the uptake, but not quite quick enough. He was overshadowed on one end of his career by Thackeray and Dickens and on the other by Hardy and James. That is a shame, because The Duke’s Children does have some profound things to say about parenting and about how the cultural conception of an English gentleman was changing in the last quarter of the century. Does nobility derive from professional education, industry and competence, by the accumulation of money, or by one’s luck in the genetic lottery? The Duke’s Children would have encouraged a Victorian reader think deeply about these and other issues. show less