The Belton Estate (1866)

This is so far my favorite Trollope book. This is the story of the people involved on an entailed estate: with the death of the father, Mr. Amedroz, it would go to a male relation, William Belton, instead of his daughter, Clara. The heroin is Clara, who “had already passed her twenty-fifth birthday,” which made her near spinsterhood. I sometimes felt like giving her a few good slaps, but her indecision and stubbornness actually added some zest to the story. Will Belton is the cousin to whom the Belton estate would be passed after Mr. Amedroz’s death. There’s a lot of stress on “manliness” and the differences between men and women—which were then not only of sex, but social and legal—like when Will “would bear like a man the disappointment which had on this occasion befallen him […].” (I grind my teeth when I hear women moaning about idiocies like “glass ceiling” or how much we still need to accomplish! Really?!) My favorite quote comes from Mrs. Askerton, that big tease, and was directed to Clara: “If you had any of that decent feeling of feminine inferiority which ought to belong to all women, he would have found you sitting on the doorstep of his house waiting for him.” Don’t you just love her? Trollope was a master story-teller and some of his repartee were extremely witty and, at times, very funny. A then “Liberal” he would certainly be labeled a “right-wing nut” nowadays. Can’t recommend his books more highly. ( )

Clara's brother ruins the family financially and then commits suicide. On her father's death she will be left penniless and Will Belton, a distant cousin, will inherit. Will comes to visit and wins her and her father over with his cheerful honesty and goodness. He falls in love with Clara and proposes, but she refuses as she loves Captain Aylmer. She goes on to become engaged to Captain Aylmer, but soon comes to draw unfavourable comparisons between Aylmer's cool calculation and lack of passion and Will's forthright passion and straightforwardness.

Trollope cleverly juxtaposes the two men throughout, showing their attitudes to money, love and how a formerly "immoral" woman should be treated. Lady Aylmer is a fantastic baddie and the book if fairly tightly plotted. I found it a bit sad that even Trollope felt that Mrs Askerton should have been "coarsened" by the tragedy of her past life and I got a bit tried of Clara's persistence in cutting off her nose to spite her face, but on the whole it was excellent. ( )

Though I started out quite interested I finally just grew heartily sick and tired of the lot of them. Fautous Captain Alymer and pining, lovesick WIll and Clara, who had my pity at first from the horrible lot of people she had to deal with but eventually lost it for just being so petulant. When it finally ended, I didn't want anyone to marry anyone!

B-list Trollope, maybe even a C+. AT gets off to a slow start with a repetitious first chapter, then plunges into the story: a most satisfactory love triangle, with an inheritance gone wrong to boot. The plot seems more straightforward than many other AT novels, with fewer side excursions (I make no complaint in either direction - merely an observation).

These convoluted or opaque first chapters put me in mind of someone who is getting settled to tell a story- slapping pockets looking for his cigar, loosening his tie, searching for matches - all the while paying only half-attention to the tale he's begun (thanks, I will have a glass), leaving his listeners impatient around him. Much "now where was I" and "as I was saying," false starts, and no one wanting to interrupt because he'll lose his place again.

The hero is much too perfect and WAY too conveniently falls for the heroine, but there is good give-and-take between the friends and a breath of scandal for relief ( )