Phineas Finn (1869)

Phineas Finn is a young Irishman who decides to make his career in politics and takes the unusual step of obtaining a seat in Parliament without first building his career as a barrister. Parliamentary positions did not come with a salary; nevertheless, Phineas sets off for London sure that everything will work out. And because this is Trollope, it does. Phineas starts out rather naive, eventually finds his footing and earns respect by being “useful,” and becomes deeply involved in the central issues facing the British government in the mid-1860s.

At the same time, Phineas is also trying to find his place in society, and because he is such a dashing young man, he has no shortage of marital prospects. There’s “hometown honey” Mary Flood-Jones, his beautiful London contemporaries Laura Standish and Violet Effingham, and the wealthy and influential young widow, Madame Max Goesler. Phineas pursues or is pursued by them all, and is fickle as can be all the way to the end. Should one marry for love and stability? Or should one pursue ambitions of wealth or position in society? Is it possible to have both? Trollope explores each of these alternatives, which also provides an opportunity to showcase several quite different women.

The political aspects of this novel were rather dense at times. The women made this book enjoyable for me. For the first time in his career, Trollope gave his female characters more depth and was sympathetic to the difficulties women faced in Victorian society: the need to marry for financial security, the control men had over women’s lives, and the challenge of living independently when circumstances require it. I’m looking forward to continuing with this series. ( )

Back for my second trip into the Palliser series: this one is much more politically-focused than the first, but without losing any of the human drama that Trollope always brings. Young Irishman Phineas Finn gets tossed into the deep end of parliamentary politics and must quickly learn to swim if he's going to navigate the political shoals. I enjoyed the complexity very much, and somehow I don't think we've seen the last of Mr. Finn ... ( )

Phineas Finn, son of an Irish doctor, is "elected" to Parliament and then appointed to a junior minister position. He falls for a series of women and has to decide how important his political independence matter to him when he disagrees with his party's policy on Irish tenants' rights. (Thankfully very little hunting in this one).

While I found Phineas a bit tame (he nearly runs into debt on a friend's behalf, but is bailed out by the friend's sister, we wonder if he will have an affair with the unhappily married Laura, but doesn't, he is tempted to be unfaithful to his Irish fiancee waiting for him at home, but resists), I liked many of the other characters. The story of the Kennedys' marriage was convincing and sad and I did enjoy Violet and her tormenting of her aunt. Helpful notes in this edition so that you understand what Trollope feels to be the "right" position on e.g. secret ballots. The ending was extremely abrupt... ( )

This is the second book in Trollope's Palliser series and it follow Phineas Finn's entrance into adulthood and simultaneously into politics. There is quite a bit of 1860s British politics, but though I was afraid that would become a bit of a slog, it was all fairly clearly explained and added to the story.

I really loved the character of Phineas Finn. Generally, I think that Trollope writes female characters best, but with Phineas we get an overall good person who has some character flaws, but is genuine and grows throughout the novel. He is lucky and things generally work out for the best for him, but his luck seems to stem from people liking him and being willing to help which makes me not begrudge this lucky streak.

The novel also explores the plight of women in the upper classes, with their lack of power and control over their lives. There are four women to contrast here: Lady Laura, who chooses a rich but boring and controlling husband; Violet Effingham, who knows who she loves but holds out on marrying him because she doesn't trust him and is worried about losing her independence; Madame Goesler, a wealthy single woman who is slightly mysterious and seems to have found that her power lies in remaining single; and sweet Mary, Phineas's childhood sweetheart from Ireland. All of these women are either in love with Phineas or he is in love with them at some point in the novel.

Overall, this was another excellent novel as I've come to expect from Trollope. Though I loved Phineas, this won't be my favorite Trollope novel, though. It didn't have as many asides from Trollope and I missed those. My star rating will rate this novel in comparison to the other Trollope novels I've read and would be higher if I was comparing it to all the books I read. ( )

a story of politics. It deals with British parliament. Phineas Finn is a young Irish man, trained as a barrister, decides to bypass working in his career of training and go directly to politics though he lacks the money to support himself. Finn is a good looking man and generally likable though not very ambitious. He spends a great deal of time pursuing women of fortune. It explores compromise versus conviction and as a political novel, it is still relevant. Another interesting theme is women as property and the struggle of equality in marriage. ( )