Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Oxford University Press, USA (1986), Paperback, 694 pages
Description
This is Trollope's eightieth tale. Though it is the work of an older man, it is perhaps the brightest and freshest novel he ever wrote. The story of a young woman forced to choose a husband from among three unsavory men, the novel is remarkable for its wealth of minor characters and it romantic exuberance.
User reviews
LibraryThing member kdcdavis
A lovely little Trollope gem. I did feel that it dragged on a little too long; I began to lose interest in all the hapless couples towards the end. I also wished that Lucy had been given more attention, as her fortitude and constancy were much more appealing to me than Ayala's flightiness. It was
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difficult to sympathize with Ayala, as I couldn't help agreeing with everyone else in the novel, that she was making a lot of trouble for very little reason. However, it was a sweet story, and, of course, ended quite happily and satisfactorily with lots of weddings. Quite often that is all I require of a novel! Show Less
LibraryThing member pgchuis
The story of two young women, Ayala and Lucy, whose parents die leaving no money and who are therefore taken in by relatives. Apart from the romances of these two sisters and their cousins, there is no other plot to speak of. Ayala, the younger, livelier sister, receives no fewer than three
There were problems for me in the management of the various strands of the story; Trollope would tell us what Lucy was up to for a couple of chapter and then backtrack a month to pick up another character's story - this happened all the time and was confusing. There was a lot of unnecessary hunting, far too much of the rejected Tom taking it badly and whining to everyone and anyone off and on for the rest of the novel. Augusta and Traffick were dreadful in a good way. I wasn't sure what to make of Houston (and Trollope didn't seem too sure either). Captain Batsby had no discernible personality and seemed all over the place in his intentions towards Gertrude. Mr and Mrs Dosett grew on you. Finally I loved Jonathan, who seemed to have wandered in from a far more modern novel, and the scene with him, Ayala and the old couple in the railway carriage was probably the funniest I have encountered in Trollope.
Lots of reflections on the merits of marrying with a sufficient income/for money/for love/with an occupation.
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proposals, but rejects them all because she dreams of an ideal lover she thinks of as "an angel of light". I have to say that this theme is not as overdone as I feared it might be and Ayala does in the end come to view one of her suitors as such an angel. Lucy has a quieter romance with a poor sculptor she has known previously and is absent for such large stretches of the novel that I forgot all about her at times.There were problems for me in the management of the various strands of the story; Trollope would tell us what Lucy was up to for a couple of chapter and then backtrack a month to pick up another character's story - this happened all the time and was confusing. There was a lot of unnecessary hunting, far too much of the rejected Tom taking it badly and whining to everyone and anyone off and on for the rest of the novel. Augusta and Traffick were dreadful in a good way. I wasn't sure what to make of Houston (and Trollope didn't seem too sure either). Captain Batsby had no discernible personality and seemed all over the place in his intentions towards Gertrude. Mr and Mrs Dosett grew on you. Finally I loved Jonathan, who seemed to have wandered in from a far more modern novel, and the scene with him, Ayala and the old couple in the railway carriage was probably the funniest I have encountered in Trollope.
Lots of reflections on the merits of marrying with a sufficient income/for money/for love/with an occupation.
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LibraryThing member MarysLibrary
If you haven't read Trollope, this is the novel to start with. Ayala and her sister, left peniless when their parents die, are sent to live with relatives. Ayala has a dream of an "angel" - a man who will sweep her off her feet and give her everything she wants and needs. Then she meets a man who
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is nothing like what she has been dreaming of. Will she be wise enough to recognize him as her angel? Show Less
LibraryThing member TerrapinJetta
Enjoyable and VERY easy to read, quite hard to put down in fact. The main romance has no surprises and it's quite easy to guess how it's all going to play out (I guessed correctly after the first few chapters), but it's still lots of fun to watch it play out.
LibraryThing member Athenable
Trollope is an odd duck, but some of his characters (including Ayala) are rather endearing.
She's a stubborn, idealistic girl whose notions of what a man should be conflict with the realities of every man she meets.
She's a stubborn, idealistic girl whose notions of what a man should be conflict with the realities of every man she meets.
LibraryThing member atheist_goat
Absolutely wonderful. I beam just thinking about this book.
LibraryThing member dmmjlllt
Very late, and really rather funny. A variety of good characters to enjoy. The thing does kind of get diffuse as it progresses (why do we spend so much time on Frank Houston?), but thoroughly enjoyable nonetheless.
LibraryThing member burritapal
This book is long and lovely. Trollope is good at his characterization and it's development. I like how he gives ridiculous names to some of the"peerage," ie Lord Boardotrade. One is certainly kept guessing about the identity of "Ayala's Angel" until nearly the end of the book.
Language
Original publication date
1880 - 1881 (serial)
1881
Physical description
694 p.; 7.17 inches
ISBN
0192817477 / 9780192817471