Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Newcastle : Cambridge Scholars Pub., 2008.
Description
Classic Literature. Fiction. Historical Fiction. HTML: Castle Richmond is about the fortunes and relationships of two families of the Irish aristocracy, set against the harrowing background of the Great Famine. Sir Thomas Fitzgerald is being blackmailed by two disreputable men over the question of his children's legitimacy. His relative, who stands to inherit should the children prove illegitimate, is caught between the girl he loves and the girl's mother, who loves him..
User reviews
LibraryThing member vguy
Rollicking read with Trollope's usual mastery of clear narrative, elegant plotting and likeable characters. Characters remain a tad 2-dimensional: the energetic passionate Owen, the innocent but determined maiden Clara, the scheming but not wicked mother etc. Some odd notes are perhaps also
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insights into the Victorian worldview: the earldom title being such an issue and even a burden to the holder if not accompanied by wealth, "poor" being a very relative term (for the Herbert family it means having to leave the castle and live in St John's Wood; for Owen it's running a pack of hounds and a good horse, but lacking a castle; for the Countess it's lacking a carriage but sending her son to Eton and Oxford; for the peasants it's dying an agonising death in rags. And that's the central problem. Brave or foolhardy of Trollope to set his story in the centre of the Irish Famine and many details are accurate ( the "yellow meal", the workhouse system) but his attempts to justify the actions of both God and Government make squirming reading. Or are they meant to be Swiftian irony ? - they come across as well-meant naiveté, and the book would have worked better without them. The pictures he paints of the suffering are strong in themselves, setting the essentially trivial affairs of the better-off in a strange light. In fact the main story could easily have been set in Barsetshire; nothing particularly Irish about this game of titles and courtships and chimerical skeletons in the family cupboard. The Famine and Trollope's repeated apologia fail to engage us while provoking a "Who gives a damn?" about the main story . Show Less
LibraryThing member jensenmk82
Set in 1846-1847 in southern Ireland at beginning of the Irish famine, Castle Richmond has a rather complicated plot and takes a while to get going, but once all the characters are presented the novel develops a narrative dynamic that held this reader's interest. Trollope's work in Ireland from
The Irish famine and efforts by authorities to mitigate its effects are the subject of many scenes and the object of abundant commentary throughout. The famine also occasions more explicit religious commentary than is typical in novels by Trollope; indeed, Trollope is more present here as an authorial voice than is the case in most of his fiction.
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1841 to 1859 gave him firsthand knowledge of the area he described. The story features the competition of two Protestant cousins of English origin, Owen Fitzgerald and Herbert Fitzgerald, for the hand of Clara Desmond, the noble but impoverished daughter of the widowed Countess of Desmond, providing the novel's principal dramatic interest. Castle Richmond is the first of several novels by Trollope in which bigamy plays an important role. The Irish famine and efforts by authorities to mitigate its effects are the subject of many scenes and the object of abundant commentary throughout. The famine also occasions more explicit religious commentary than is typical in novels by Trollope; indeed, Trollope is more present here as an authorial voice than is the case in most of his fiction.
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LibraryThing member NinieB
I really enjoyed this book. The edition I read had an introduction by Algar Thorold (whoever he was) claiming that the characterization was weak and the plot mechanical, and that the saving grace of the book was its descriptions of the Irish famine and of one character, Aby Mollett. I have to
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disagree. I did not see the way the plot was going, and I thought Lady Clara Desmond, as we ll as many of the other main characters, were interesting and well-rounded. Show Less
LibraryThing member pgchuis
Lady Clara Desmond (aged 16) falls for Owen Fitzgerald, a man to whom her widowed mother is also attracted. The match is forbidden as Owen is felt not to be sufficiently wealthy/grand for her. Owen takes this badly and leads a "wild" bachelor life. Clara gets to know his cousin Herbert and becomes
In places this is pretty depressing (blackmail, the Irish potato famine and so on), but thankfully the blackmail plot is thwarted before too long. I would be interested to know what is thought more generally about Trollope's various comments on the famine; its causes and the efforts made to keep the people alive. Clara's mother was an excellent baddie, as were the Molletts. I kept looking out for matches for Emmeline and Mary, but these never came.At one point I feared that Clara would keep switching between the two men who loved her, but I thought Trollope's description of the decision she made was convincing. Owen was a rather melodramatic character, in whom I did not really believe.
The final plot twists were also rather melodramatic, but satisfying.
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engaged to him. but the Herbert loses everything and Clara's mother thinks again of Owen for her.In places this is pretty depressing (blackmail, the Irish potato famine and so on), but thankfully the blackmail plot is thwarted before too long. I would be interested to know what is thought more generally about Trollope's various comments on the famine; its causes and the efforts made to keep the people alive. Clara's mother was an excellent baddie, as were the Molletts. I kept looking out for matches for Emmeline and Mary, but these never came.At one point I feared that Clara would keep switching between the two men who loved her, but I thought Trollope's description of the decision she made was convincing. Owen was a rather melodramatic character, in whom I did not really believe.
The final plot twists were also rather melodramatic, but satisfying.
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LibraryThing member PaulCranswick
Bigamy and inheritance. Love lost and love won. Hearts withheld because of want of title and retained because of loss of title.
The Irish famine.
Trollope was a wonderful storyteller and a marvellous turner of phrase especially when using juxtaposition. He reveals in this tale a blindspot for the
There is something obscene to modern sensibilities to read this and not abhor some of the attitudes and platitudes expressed about the situation in Ireland. That Trollope could so bemoan the loss and potential loss of wealth and title and expect us to have deep sympathy with his characters whilst he is describing the want, poverty, famine and death of those outside the body of his tale is frankly remarkable. That he is able to describe those with estates and servants and privilege as "poor" when contrasting the Irish peasant being forced to build the "famine roads" to work for their bread as charity was deemed ill advised is nauseating. Trollope's views are an inkling as to why socialism was overdue and liberalism with its laissez-faire, free trade cruelties was bound to its doom.
Trollope was undeniably a great writer. This is a splendid tale but it is not a good or a worthy book because of the apologia given for the government of the time's failure of the Irish people. Shame!
The Irish famine.
Trollope was a wonderful storyteller and a marvellous turner of phrase especially when using juxtaposition. He reveals in this tale a blindspot for the
Show More
fripperies of propertied lives whilst the less interesting lives of the peasant folk of Ireland starved "in God's mercy".There is something obscene to modern sensibilities to read this and not abhor some of the attitudes and platitudes expressed about the situation in Ireland. That Trollope could so bemoan the loss and potential loss of wealth and title and expect us to have deep sympathy with his characters whilst he is describing the want, poverty, famine and death of those outside the body of his tale is frankly remarkable. That he is able to describe those with estates and servants and privilege as "poor" when contrasting the Irish peasant being forced to build the "famine roads" to work for their bread as charity was deemed ill advised is nauseating. Trollope's views are an inkling as to why socialism was overdue and liberalism with its laissez-faire, free trade cruelties was bound to its doom.
Trollope was undeniably a great writer. This is a splendid tale but it is not a good or a worthy book because of the apologia given for the government of the time's failure of the Irish people. Shame!
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LibraryThing member cbl_tn
Trollope attempted to juxtapose a love triangle with the Irish famine and didn’t quite pull it off. Uneven pacing relegates the suffering of the Irish peasants into the background. The protagonists are not in danger of missing a meal. The characterization lacks the sparkle of many of Trollope’s
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other novels. Perhaps Trollope was trying so hard to work the famine into the plot that he didn’t allow his characters to develop in his usual manner. About halfway through the book, I could see only one possible way out for Trollope, and, sure enough, he took it. Show Less
LibraryThing member japaul22
One of Trollope's earlier novels, this one will not rank as a favorite for me. It is set in Ireland during the beginning of the potato famine. On top of that is a more typical Trollope story line which a young woman has to decide between two men whose fortunes are shifting and manage interference
I had two issues with this book. One is that the potato famine is there, but it wasn't the focus and is sort of a side story. Though it's more prevalent than that at the same time. And Trollope's attitude to the famine was pretty confusing to me - I couldn't tell if he thought it was God's intent that all these people die, that it was God's will, or how much responsibility the wealthy had to help the situation. Whatever he meant, it wasn't good and was definitely off-putting.
And the the love triangle also, just wasn't up to Trollope's normally excellent look into the human psyche. I didn't feel like I really understood all of the motivations of the characters.
I definitely wouldn't start here if you want to read Trollope! The man was prolific - there are literally dozens of other novels by him that I enjoyed more!
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from her mother.I had two issues with this book. One is that the potato famine is there, but it wasn't the focus and is sort of a side story. Though it's more prevalent than that at the same time. And Trollope's attitude to the famine was pretty confusing to me - I couldn't tell if he thought it was God's intent that all these people die, that it was God's will, or how much responsibility the wealthy had to help the situation. Whatever he meant, it wasn't good and was definitely off-putting.
And the the love triangle also, just wasn't up to Trollope's normally excellent look into the human psyche. I didn't feel like I really understood all of the motivations of the characters.
I definitely wouldn't start here if you want to read Trollope! The man was prolific - there are literally dozens of other novels by him that I enjoyed more!
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Subjects
Language
Original publication date
1860
Physical description
vii, 376 p.; 21 cm
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DDC/MDS
| 823.8 |