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Orley Farm
With its concern for social issues and its extensive coverage of middle-class and landed life, 'Orley Farm' is a novel that demands attention in the rich field of nineteenth-century fiction.
825 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1861
About the author
Anthony Trollope
1,722 books1,651 followersAnthony Trollope became one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. Some of Trollope's best-loved works, known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, revolve around the imaginary county of Barsetshire; he also wrote penetrating novels on political, social, and gender issues and conflicts of his day.
Trollope has always been a popular novelist. Noted fans have included Sir Alec Guinness (who never travelled without a Trollope novel), former British Prime Ministers Harold Macmillan and Sir John Major, economist John Kenneth Galbraith, American novelists Sue Grafton and Dominick Dunne and soap opera writer Harding Lemay. Trollope's literary reputation dipped somewhat during the last years of his life, but he regained the esteem of critics by the mid-twentieth century.
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_...
Trollope has always been a popular novelist. Noted fans have included Sir Alec Guinness (who never travelled without a Trollope novel), former British Prime Ministers Harold Macmillan and Sir John Major, economist John Kenneth Galbraith, American novelists Sue Grafton and Dominick Dunne and soap opera writer Harding Lemay. Trollope's literary reputation dipped somewhat during the last years of his life, but he regained the esteem of critics by the mid-twentieth century.
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 172 reviews
September 1, 2021
Hefty but not heavy: love, loss, iron furniture, legal shenanigans, humour, guilt, revenge, redemption, rat-catching, misunderstanding, a “moulded wife”… and more.
This is a standalone Trollope novel, originally published in instalments of two or three short chapters: the 800+ pages race by. Further page-turnability comes from numerous characters and sub-plots, coupled with quite a gossipy tone, and occasional catty asides. It was his most celebrated novel in his lifetime, but sadly, it is less well-known now.
Plot
The basic plot is explained at the outset, and I expect most readers guess the gist of the outcome quite early on. Lady Mason was the young second wife of on old land-owning widower; they lived at Orley Farm, while the adult son (Joseph Mason) lived in the main family estate, Groby. Shortly after their son Lucius was born, the old man died, and contrary to what he’d told his elder son, a codicil to his will left Orley Farm to his infant son. The will was challenged, but the codicil upheld. Twenty years later, when this book is set, it is challenged again: Lady Mason may be charged with forgery or perjury.
It’s not quite “fiction” as Oscar Wilde’s Miss Prism defined the word, but nearly so.
Justice and The Law
The law is at the heart of the book (Trollope’s father was a lawyer), along with the idea that it does not necessarily equate with justice. The process is explained clearly enough, and the courtroom scenes have the dramatic tension of the best TV dramas.
“We have retained a system which contains many of the barbarities of the feudal times… we teach him [the defendant] to lie in his own defence.”
Trollope’s concerns are moral, channelled mainly through Lucius Mason (“lawyers are all liars”) and young lawyer Felix Graham. In particular, is it ethical to defend someone if you think (or even know) they are guilty, and to what extent does payment cloud that, especially when it means the rich can buy justice that the poor can’t (as they can also buy warmer winter coats)?
The older Furnival’s conscience is more easily accommodated than that of the idealistic Graham:
“He had learned – as lawyers do learn – to believe his own case.”
Powerful barrister Chaffenbrass thinks it’s fine to acquit the guilty if they can support themselves, because it saves the crown money (I assume he wouldn’t extend that to rape or murder):
“He was always true to the man whose money he had taken.”
Image: Scales of justice, and shadow. Source.
“No amount of eloquence will make an English lawyer think that loyalty to the truth should come before loyalty to his client.”
But is that good or bad? The guilty still need someone to plead for them. You could insert a religious analogy here, but in this novel, the message of Christian repentance and forgiveness comes instead from Lady Mason’s friend, Mrs Orme. In fact, in some ways, this book has a stronger Christian message than the Barchester novels with their overtly church-related themes.
Putting aside the rules of law, moral justice is harder to define: doing the wrong thing, to selflessly right a wrong may still be wrong, but how much leniency, if any, should there be? How does the passage of time affect guilt, punishment and restitution? What does the innocent beneficiary of a crime owe the victim? If the victim is unpleasant and vindictive, how does one cast that bias aside?
Trivia: Even those who support the death penalty for crimes such as murder might be shocked to learn that forgery was a capital offence until 1830, only a few years before this was written and set!
Comical Commerce
Despite some dubious ethics, most of the lawyers are likeable, and for contrast, there are some commercial travellers. They provide plenty of humour (especially when explaining the etiquette of the “Commercial (Dining) Room” in an inn), as well as examples of ethical quandaries of a less intellectual kind.
Characters and their Names
Trollope is good at drawing characters of all sorts: rich, poor, aspirant, falling, male, female, young and old. He sometimes comes close to caricature, but knows where to draw the line. There are some good names, and unlike some of his Barsetshire novels, they’re not quite ludicrous.
It’s no surprise that Samuel Dockwrath is angry about his loss; that Round and Crook are lawyers, as are Slow and Bideawhile; Kantwise is quick-witted salesman; an apothecary is called Balsam; Mary Snow is on a pedestal; Bridget Bolster is made of stern stuff, and Chaffenbrass is good in court interrogation.
Women
For a Victorian man, Trollope can be surprisingly insightful about women – though he’s not afraid to portray nasty ones either. Those of most interest here include:
• Lady Mason is the central character, and unlike Lily Dale (The Small House at Allington), she is plausibly complex, as is her situation. The reader’s feelings towards her vary, which is a compliment to the writing.
• Mrs Orme is, like Lady Mason, a woman in her early forties, widowed for around twenty years. Her situation is rather different (she lives with her father-in-law, Sir Peregrine Orme, and son Perry) but her love and loyalty – practical and emotional – are beautiful.
• Sophia Furnival is a fascinating young woman: fiercely intelligent, but born a few generations too soon to follow her father into the law – something she would undoubtedly be good at.
• Mrs Furnival loves her husband, and is proud of his success but she struggles with the price of that success. Her husband is often away, so she suspects infidelity. She doesn’t find solace in her new social position either: she can’t butter toast on her lap, and tea is made in the kitchen, poured by servants.
• Mary Snow was the motherless daughter of a feckless father, adopted as a ward by a benefactor, who then trained her up to be a “moulded wife”! It’s described as if this was a known idea at the time. The complications of this arrangement are explored.
Lucius Mason is forward thinking; he declares that women “have minds equal to those of men”, though in an earlier chapter, Trollope suggests that Joseph Mason would be justified in deserting, beating or locking up his awful wife!
It may be relevant that although Trollope’s father was not very successful, his mother was a celebrated novelist who was able to support the family.
Parenting
Law may be the overt theme, but relationships between parents and young adult children are really the core of most of the plots and sub-plots, and as a parent of a young adult, they were what chimed most with me:
• Old Joseph Mason’s provision for his two sons caused problems. Death and money are often troublesome companions; we should strive to bequeath peace and harmony in how we leave our affairs.
• Lady Mason’s court cases affect her relationship with her son and his position in society. Everything she does, she does for him, and he loves her unquestioningly. But.
• Mary Snow’s father virtually sells her, but is her benefactor-cum-suitor any better? Distasteful as this is in modern times, I think his motives were honourable, albeit very misplaced.
• Judge Stavely and his wife are very liberal in how much freedom they give their daughters in choosing who to marry. They believe a child “should be allowed, as far as was practical, to do what they liked” because the child “if properly trained, would like those things which were good for them.” I broadly agree, but there’s no guarantee.
• The Stavelys’ freedom even allows a game of Blind Man’s Buff where “you can feel, you know”.
Marriage
You could write a lengthy essay comparing the huge variety of marriages – and potential ones – portrayed here.
We see a wealthy man, living in virtual poverty because of his stingy wife (who makes sure she does not go without herself), the corrosive effect of suspicion, a dubious form of well-intentioned grooming, sacrificial love, the pressure of having 14 children, and a commercial traveller who likes to keep his wife on her toes by not telling her when he’ll be home:
“He might keep her always on alert an ready for marital inspection.”
There is a gentleness in the way even the unhappy ones are rendered that avoids conjuring prurience, and a light joy in the happy couples. Social boundaries are challenged: some characters bow to them, and some do not.
It illustrates that there is no single template for marriage that works for all, and that what works for one couple at one stage in their lives, may need changing later on. I was reminded of a recent radio interviewee who was asked about how he and his wife had been happily married for over 30 years. He said he’d actually been married three times (the interviewer sounded flustered) and then explained that he’d only ever been married to the same woman, but that their relationship had evolved, so it was almost like three different marriages.
The permutations of courting couples, and the way some of them play one off another lend a Shakespearean air at times: different combinations of who might end up with who, and various impediments (some of which vanish without further explanation).
Tome, Language, and Grammar
Trollope quite often addresses the reader directly, giving his reasons for why he’s telling the story in the way he is. For example, “The heroine… must by a certain fixed law be young and marriageable” and promises that at least one such will be forthcoming. He also contradicts himself, to mildly comic effect. For instance, saying “It would be needless to tell…” and immediately telling it.
The occasionally gossipy tone is sometimes used, conspiratorially, to the reader, but is also demonstrated by Martha Biggs in particular. She takes a salacious interest in the troubles of her friend’s marriage, and wants to know more: her “soul sighed for a tale more piquant than one of mere general neglect… It could not be expected that she would sympathise with generalities for ever.” When she can’t hear the argument she expects, she “let the battle rage in her imagination.” She has some succour, and later, “her mind deliciously filled with the anticipation of coming catastrophes”. Some friend!
It’s instructive to read period literature and be reminded how language has changed. Constructions and spellings that some abhor as shocking modern errors or Americanisms are common in respected British books of the past:
• “all of them do not have...”
• “gotten” (only really in American English nowadays)
• “stept across” (yet Brits do still use burnt, spilt, spelt etc)
• “insure” and “intrust”, where Brits would now use “ensure” and “entrust”
• Hyphenation changes: now-a-days, some one, to-night, to-morrow
• “Stupid is as stupid does” may have been famously said by Forrest Gump’s mother, but it’s said by a sharp-tongued salesman here (Kantwise)!
• “not so cute in the ways of having much to say”
Other Quotes
• “He looked as though a skin rather too small for the purpose had been drawn over his head and face… His nose… seemed to have been compressed almost into nothing by that skin-squeezing operation… it had all the properties of a line… length without breadth.”
• Mrs Mason is comically mean, even to guests. A servant serves lunch: “the covers were removed… with a magnificent action of his arm which I am inclined to think was not innocent of irony… a large dish… selected by the cook with some similar attempt at sarcasm” and bearing “three scraps, as to the nature of which Mr Dockwrath, though he looked hard at them, was unable to enlighten himself.”
• A frustrated husband, “Instead of counting up her virtues, he counted up his own.” Trollope observes that failing to love and cherish a spouse is as much a breaking of marriage vows as the betrayal he is suspected of.
• “an intermeddling little busybody.”
• “Since the domestic rose would no longer yield him honey, he would seek his sweets from the stray honeysuckle on which there grew no thorns.”
• “Legal gentlemen are… quite as often bought off as bought up.”
• “Mrs Mason would not on any account have missed church… It was a cheap duty and therefore rigidly performed.”
• “He must now either assure her by a lie or break down all her hopes by the truth”.
• “Novels are the only chance a man has when he’s laid up like that.”
• “a solitary candle, which only seemed to make the gloom of the large room visible.”
• “She did wander about the house, as though there were something always to be done in some place apart from that in which she then was.”
• “Having dressed his face with that romantic sobriety he had been practising.”
• “He was a man who looked his best when under a cloud, and shone the brightest when everything about him was dark.” (Lucius Mason)
This is a standalone Trollope novel, originally published in instalments of two or three short chapters: the 800+ pages race by. Further page-turnability comes from numerous characters and sub-plots, coupled with quite a gossipy tone, and occasional catty asides. It was his most celebrated novel in his lifetime, but sadly, it is less well-known now.
Plot
The basic plot is explained at the outset, and I expect most readers guess the gist of the outcome quite early on. Lady Mason was the young second wife of on old land-owning widower; they lived at Orley Farm, while the adult son (Joseph Mason) lived in the main family estate, Groby. Shortly after their son Lucius was born, the old man died, and contrary to what he’d told his elder son, a codicil to his will left Orley Farm to his infant son. The will was challenged, but the codicil upheld. Twenty years later, when this book is set, it is challenged again: Lady Mason may be charged with forgery or perjury.
It’s not quite “fiction” as Oscar Wilde’s Miss Prism defined the word, but nearly so.
Justice and The Law
The law is at the heart of the book (Trollope’s father was a lawyer), along with the idea that it does not necessarily equate with justice. The process is explained clearly enough, and the courtroom scenes have the dramatic tension of the best TV dramas.
“We have retained a system which contains many of the barbarities of the feudal times… we teach him [the defendant] to lie in his own defence.”
Trollope’s concerns are moral, channelled mainly through Lucius Mason (“lawyers are all liars”) and young lawyer Felix Graham. In particular, is it ethical to defend someone if you think (or even know) they are guilty, and to what extent does payment cloud that, especially when it means the rich can buy justice that the poor can’t (as they can also buy warmer winter coats)?
The older Furnival’s conscience is more easily accommodated than that of the idealistic Graham:
“He had learned – as lawyers do learn – to believe his own case.”
Powerful barrister Chaffenbrass thinks it’s fine to acquit the guilty if they can support themselves, because it saves the crown money (I assume he wouldn’t extend that to rape or murder):
“He was always true to the man whose money he had taken.”
Image: Scales of justice, and shadow. Source.
“No amount of eloquence will make an English lawyer think that loyalty to the truth should come before loyalty to his client.”
But is that good or bad? The guilty still need someone to plead for them. You could insert a religious analogy here, but in this novel, the message of Christian repentance and forgiveness comes instead from Lady Mason’s friend, Mrs Orme. In fact, in some ways, this book has a stronger Christian message than the Barchester novels with their overtly church-related themes.
Putting aside the rules of law, moral justice is harder to define: doing the wrong thing, to selflessly right a wrong may still be wrong, but how much leniency, if any, should there be? How does the passage of time affect guilt, punishment and restitution? What does the innocent beneficiary of a crime owe the victim? If the victim is unpleasant and vindictive, how does one cast that bias aside?
Trivia: Even those who support the death penalty for crimes such as murder might be shocked to learn that forgery was a capital offence until 1830, only a few years before this was written and set!
Comical Commerce
Despite some dubious ethics, most of the lawyers are likeable, and for contrast, there are some commercial travellers. They provide plenty of humour (especially when explaining the etiquette of the “Commercial (Dining) Room” in an inn), as well as examples of ethical quandaries of a less intellectual kind.
Characters and their Names
Trollope is good at drawing characters of all sorts: rich, poor, aspirant, falling, male, female, young and old. He sometimes comes close to caricature, but knows where to draw the line. There are some good names, and unlike some of his Barsetshire novels, they’re not quite ludicrous.
It’s no surprise that Samuel Dockwrath is angry about his loss; that Round and Crook are lawyers, as are Slow and Bideawhile; Kantwise is quick-witted salesman; an apothecary is called Balsam; Mary Snow is on a pedestal; Bridget Bolster is made of stern stuff, and Chaffenbrass is good in court interrogation.
Women
For a Victorian man, Trollope can be surprisingly insightful about women – though he’s not afraid to portray nasty ones either. Those of most interest here include:
• Lady Mason is the central character, and unlike Lily Dale (The Small House at Allington), she is plausibly complex, as is her situation. The reader’s feelings towards her vary, which is a compliment to the writing.
• Mrs Orme is, like Lady Mason, a woman in her early forties, widowed for around twenty years. Her situation is rather different (she lives with her father-in-law, Sir Peregrine Orme, and son Perry) but her love and loyalty – practical and emotional – are beautiful.
• Sophia Furnival is a fascinating young woman: fiercely intelligent, but born a few generations too soon to follow her father into the law – something she would undoubtedly be good at.
• Mrs Furnival loves her husband, and is proud of his success but she struggles with the price of that success. Her husband is often away, so she suspects infidelity. She doesn’t find solace in her new social position either: she can’t butter toast on her lap, and tea is made in the kitchen, poured by servants.
• Mary Snow was the motherless daughter of a feckless father, adopted as a ward by a benefactor, who then trained her up to be a “moulded wife”! It’s described as if this was a known idea at the time. The complications of this arrangement are explored.
Lucius Mason is forward thinking; he declares that women “have minds equal to those of men”, though in an earlier chapter, Trollope suggests that Joseph Mason would be justified in deserting, beating or locking up his awful wife!
It may be relevant that although Trollope’s father was not very successful, his mother was a celebrated novelist who was able to support the family.
Parenting
Law may be the overt theme, but relationships between parents and young adult children are really the core of most of the plots and sub-plots, and as a parent of a young adult, they were what chimed most with me:
• Old Joseph Mason’s provision for his two sons caused problems. Death and money are often troublesome companions; we should strive to bequeath peace and harmony in how we leave our affairs.
• Lady Mason’s court cases affect her relationship with her son and his position in society. Everything she does, she does for him, and he loves her unquestioningly. But.
• Mary Snow’s father virtually sells her, but is her benefactor-cum-suitor any better? Distasteful as this is in modern times, I think his motives were honourable, albeit very misplaced.
• Judge Stavely and his wife are very liberal in how much freedom they give their daughters in choosing who to marry. They believe a child “should be allowed, as far as was practical, to do what they liked” because the child “if properly trained, would like those things which were good for them.” I broadly agree, but there’s no guarantee.
• The Stavelys’ freedom even allows a game of Blind Man’s Buff where “you can feel, you know”.
Marriage
You could write a lengthy essay comparing the huge variety of marriages – and potential ones – portrayed here.
We see a wealthy man, living in virtual poverty because of his stingy wife (who makes sure she does not go without herself), the corrosive effect of suspicion, a dubious form of well-intentioned grooming, sacrificial love, the pressure of having 14 children, and a commercial traveller who likes to keep his wife on her toes by not telling her when he’ll be home:
“He might keep her always on alert an ready for marital inspection.”
There is a gentleness in the way even the unhappy ones are rendered that avoids conjuring prurience, and a light joy in the happy couples. Social boundaries are challenged: some characters bow to them, and some do not.
It illustrates that there is no single template for marriage that works for all, and that what works for one couple at one stage in their lives, may need changing later on. I was reminded of a recent radio interviewee who was asked about how he and his wife had been happily married for over 30 years. He said he’d actually been married three times (the interviewer sounded flustered) and then explained that he’d only ever been married to the same woman, but that their relationship had evolved, so it was almost like three different marriages.
The permutations of courting couples, and the way some of them play one off another lend a Shakespearean air at times: different combinations of who might end up with who, and various impediments (some of which vanish without further explanation).
Tome, Language, and Grammar
Trollope quite often addresses the reader directly, giving his reasons for why he’s telling the story in the way he is. For example, “The heroine… must by a certain fixed law be young and marriageable” and promises that at least one such will be forthcoming. He also contradicts himself, to mildly comic effect. For instance, saying “It would be needless to tell…” and immediately telling it.
The occasionally gossipy tone is sometimes used, conspiratorially, to the reader, but is also demonstrated by Martha Biggs in particular. She takes a salacious interest in the troubles of her friend’s marriage, and wants to know more: her “soul sighed for a tale more piquant than one of mere general neglect… It could not be expected that she would sympathise with generalities for ever.” When she can’t hear the argument she expects, she “let the battle rage in her imagination.” She has some succour, and later, “her mind deliciously filled with the anticipation of coming catastrophes”. Some friend!
It’s instructive to read period literature and be reminded how language has changed. Constructions and spellings that some abhor as shocking modern errors or Americanisms are common in respected British books of the past:
• “all of them do not have...”
• “gotten” (only really in American English nowadays)
• “stept across” (yet Brits do still use burnt, spilt, spelt etc)
• “insure” and “intrust”, where Brits would now use “ensure” and “entrust”
• Hyphenation changes: now-a-days, some one, to-night, to-morrow
• “Stupid is as stupid does” may have been famously said by Forrest Gump’s mother, but it’s said by a sharp-tongued salesman here (Kantwise)!
• “not so cute in the ways of having much to say”
Other Quotes
• “He looked as though a skin rather too small for the purpose had been drawn over his head and face… His nose… seemed to have been compressed almost into nothing by that skin-squeezing operation… it had all the properties of a line… length without breadth.”
• Mrs Mason is comically mean, even to guests. A servant serves lunch: “the covers were removed… with a magnificent action of his arm which I am inclined to think was not innocent of irony… a large dish… selected by the cook with some similar attempt at sarcasm” and bearing “three scraps, as to the nature of which Mr Dockwrath, though he looked hard at them, was unable to enlighten himself.”
• A frustrated husband, “Instead of counting up her virtues, he counted up his own.” Trollope observes that failing to love and cherish a spouse is as much a breaking of marriage vows as the betrayal he is suspected of.
• “an intermeddling little busybody.”
• “Since the domestic rose would no longer yield him honey, he would seek his sweets from the stray honeysuckle on which there grew no thorns.”
• “Legal gentlemen are… quite as often bought off as bought up.”
• “Mrs Mason would not on any account have missed church… It was a cheap duty and therefore rigidly performed.”
• “He must now either assure her by a lie or break down all her hopes by the truth”.
• “Novels are the only chance a man has when he’s laid up like that.”
• “a solitary candle, which only seemed to make the gloom of the large room visible.”
• “She did wander about the house, as though there were something always to be done in some place apart from that in which she then was.”
• “Having dressed his face with that romantic sobriety he had been practising.”
• “He was a man who looked his best when under a cloud, and shone the brightest when everything about him was dark.” (Lucius Mason)
June 26, 2019
The characters of Joseph Mason and his stepmother Lady Mason, so sharply contrasted are consistent and totally believable. So are the former's resentment, smouldering for 20 years, and the strain on the latter, held at bay for the same period until her resolution is exhausted.
May 6, 2015
This is perhaps the most unusual of all Trollope's books. The ending is quite extraordinary, morally outrageous even today or perhaps especially in this day and age, just absolutely disgusting.
Trollope writes these long sagas that contain multiple small plots, usually romantic, and writes the characters so well that you get quite involved and this book does not disappoint in this.
The plot seems to have been written about in just about every review so there is no point in the artificial drama of putting a 'spoiler' here, although personally I really am not keen on reviews that are more synopses of the book. I like to read what people thought of a book more than what the book was about.
A young man comes of age and takes control of the property he inherited away from his mother who has been in control until then. He isn't a bad lad but he thinks he knows more about business than he does and his first action is to evict the tenant farmer so that he might put the land to more profitable use himself.
The impestuous young lad's father who had owned the land had dispossessed his eldest son and left it to his son by his second wife by means of a codicil to his Will, signed by a couple of servants. This Will had been tested in court by the eldest son, the rightful heir, but he had lost.
The farmer had known that the codicil was not genuine but since he was benefiting from the land, had said nothing for all these years. Now, though, enraged by his summary eviction, he goes after revenge.
Lady Mason, the beautiful, relatively young widow, marshalls all possible support, legal and otherwise for the defence of the Will and her good name, but eventually confesses to a friend that she did indeed forge both the codicil and the signatures which were on a completely different legal document.
The case comes to court, the lawyer makes a total fool of one of the witnesses to the codicil, as lawyers do, and the Lady Mason wins the case. The eldest son naturally would have had to pay costs and his name would be quite damaged bringing two cases calling an aristocratic lady, his stepmother, a forger and a perjurer.
However, since quite a few people now know that she is indeed a criminal she cedes the land to the rightful inheritor, her stepson, and then, with her son, goes abroad to live a life of ease and luxury, keeping both her money and her good name.
Outrageous!
But an excellent book, perhaps the best of Trollope's marvellous stories. I so enjoyed reading it and was so furious at the end my son said, 'What are you shouting at?'
Recommended for classics fans and those who think they are deadly dull, all Dickens paid-for-by-the-word boring or sly romances like Austen (which I love). This is something else, a brilliant read.
Trollope writes these long sagas that contain multiple small plots, usually romantic, and writes the characters so well that you get quite involved and this book does not disappoint in this.
The plot seems to have been written about in just about every review so there is no point in the artificial drama of putting a 'spoiler' here, although personally I really am not keen on reviews that are more synopses of the book. I like to read what people thought of a book more than what the book was about.
A young man comes of age and takes control of the property he inherited away from his mother who has been in control until then. He isn't a bad lad but he thinks he knows more about business than he does and his first action is to evict the tenant farmer so that he might put the land to more profitable use himself.
The impestuous young lad's father who had owned the land had dispossessed his eldest son and left it to his son by his second wife by means of a codicil to his Will, signed by a couple of servants. This Will had been tested in court by the eldest son, the rightful heir, but he had lost.
The farmer had known that the codicil was not genuine but since he was benefiting from the land, had said nothing for all these years. Now, though, enraged by his summary eviction, he goes after revenge.
Lady Mason, the beautiful, relatively young widow, marshalls all possible support, legal and otherwise for the defence of the Will and her good name, but eventually confesses to a friend that she did indeed forge both the codicil and the signatures which were on a completely different legal document.
The case comes to court, the lawyer makes a total fool of one of the witnesses to the codicil, as lawyers do, and the Lady Mason wins the case. The eldest son naturally would have had to pay costs and his name would be quite damaged bringing two cases calling an aristocratic lady, his stepmother, a forger and a perjurer.
However, since quite a few people now know that she is indeed a criminal she cedes the land to the rightful inheritor, her stepson, and then, with her son, goes abroad to live a life of ease and luxury, keeping both her money and her good name.
Outrageous!
But an excellent book, perhaps the best of Trollope's marvellous stories. I so enjoyed reading it and was so furious at the end my son said, 'What are you shouting at?'
Recommended for classics fans and those who think they are deadly dull, all Dickens paid-for-by-the-word boring or sly romances like Austen (which I love). This is something else, a brilliant read.
April 27, 2022
I loved this. A really fantastic Trollope book.
February 8, 2016
Did Lady Mason forge her late husband's will?
We learn the answer to that question early enough, but that is not the point to this story. Her guilt or innocence is beside the point. We must hear from the British class system. And, of more consequence, what of the British system of justice?
The word 'verdict' comes from the Latin veredictum, and literally means "to say the truth". Then, now, here, there -- do not imagine that that hallowed derivation is reality.*
"I have an idea that all lawyers are liars," a character says early on. Trollope - (and this was my first Trollope) - shows us that some are and some are not. His cynicism is more nuanced than that of the quoted character, but enough so that he understands a trial is not a search for the truth. Speaking as the author to the reader - (Trollope intrudes himself in this way, but not annoyingly) - Trollope says, "I cannot understand how any gentleman can be willing to use his intellect for the propagation of untruth, and to be paid for so using it." The case is deemed to need the services of the brilliant Mr. Chaffanbrass, who "well understood that the defence of injured innocence was no part of his mission."
Another lawyer is Solomon Aram, highly skilled, acutely aware; but a Jew. Trollope deals with the anti-Semitism matter-of-factly. It made me wince for all the Realism of it, but made me also think of more Then, now, here, there.
One witness tried to tell the truth but he was spectacularly no good at it, so bad in fact that the trial judge charged the jury that they could take it as a given that the witness was stupid. With friends after the trial, the poor witness hangs his head, as despondent as a soul can be. One friend, in a fortified attempt at commiseration, says "what does it matter if all the judges in the land was to call him stupid." To which another friend solemnly intones, "Stupid is as stupid does." So, do not believe that Forrest Gump said it first.
This will not be my last Trollope.
___________________________________
*This reminded me, repeatedly, of a scene from Pete Dexter's Paris Trout. Mrs. McNutt is on the stand and being cross-examined:
"I told the truth about it. You can make it look any which way now, but I told how it happened.
Seagraves said, "That's what we called the jury for, to decide."
She turned then, looking directly at them. "They don't decide what happened," she said."It's already done. All they decide is if they gone do something about it."
We learn the answer to that question early enough, but that is not the point to this story. Her guilt or innocence is beside the point. We must hear from the British class system. And, of more consequence, what of the British system of justice?
The word 'verdict' comes from the Latin veredictum, and literally means "to say the truth". Then, now, here, there -- do not imagine that that hallowed derivation is reality.*
"I have an idea that all lawyers are liars," a character says early on. Trollope - (and this was my first Trollope) - shows us that some are and some are not. His cynicism is more nuanced than that of the quoted character, but enough so that he understands a trial is not a search for the truth. Speaking as the author to the reader - (Trollope intrudes himself in this way, but not annoyingly) - Trollope says, "I cannot understand how any gentleman can be willing to use his intellect for the propagation of untruth, and to be paid for so using it." The case is deemed to need the services of the brilliant Mr. Chaffanbrass, who "well understood that the defence of injured innocence was no part of his mission."
Another lawyer is Solomon Aram, highly skilled, acutely aware; but a Jew. Trollope deals with the anti-Semitism matter-of-factly. It made me wince for all the Realism of it, but made me also think of more Then, now, here, there.
One witness tried to tell the truth but he was spectacularly no good at it, so bad in fact that the trial judge charged the jury that they could take it as a given that the witness was stupid. With friends after the trial, the poor witness hangs his head, as despondent as a soul can be. One friend, in a fortified attempt at commiseration, says "what does it matter if all the judges in the land was to call him stupid." To which another friend solemnly intones, "Stupid is as stupid does." So, do not believe that Forrest Gump said it first.
This will not be my last Trollope.
___________________________________
*This reminded me, repeatedly, of a scene from Pete Dexter's Paris Trout. Mrs. McNutt is on the stand and being cross-examined:
"I told the truth about it. You can make it look any which way now, but I told how it happened.
Seagraves said, "That's what we called the jury for, to decide."
She turned then, looking directly at them. "They don't decide what happened," she said."It's already done. All they decide is if they gone do something about it."
April 10, 2007
When people ask me, "David, you're obviously a complete nut when it comes to Trollope. I've never read one of his novels, and he wrote so damned many. Which one should I try?", this is the one I recommend. Some in the Barsetshire and Palliser series may be better, but the first book in each of those series is below standard for Trollope; I don't want anyone to embark on those until they know Trollope can deliver the goods. And deliver the goods he does in Orley Farm.
The plot revolves around a will. Sir Joseph Mason dies with a will that leaves everything to his second son, the son of his second wife, the much younger, beautiful Lady Mason, and nothing to his son by an earlier marriage. Did Lady Mason forge this will?
Trollope early on lets us know the answer to this question. It's typical of his approach to narrative. He almost disdains plots and twists, or says he does, and seems to want to be rid of any reader who is reading just to find out the answer to what could have been a mystery, saying in effect: "If this is the only reason you're reading this, here's the answer. Satisfied? Now please go away."
Anyone who has come to love Trollope knows that the joy of reading him has nothing to do with twists and turns of plot. If you're the type for Trollope, you'll stay to the end, even when you know the answer to the forgery question.
Trollope's father was a barrister, although an utter failure at the bar, and Trollope's lawyers are wonderful. The much feared Chaffanbrass, whom Trollope introduced in The Three Clerks and who will appear again in Phineas Redux, appears here in all his glory. His skill at cross-examination lies not so much in wringing the truth from liars as in making the most innocent and honest of witnesses come across as the sneakiest of perjurers.
Also representing Lady Mason in the will contest is Sir Thomas Furnival. The portrait of the Furnival marriage, and its gradual disintegration as Sir Thomas becomes smitten, almost innocently, with Lady Mason, is Trollope at his best.
The plot revolves around a will. Sir Joseph Mason dies with a will that leaves everything to his second son, the son of his second wife, the much younger, beautiful Lady Mason, and nothing to his son by an earlier marriage. Did Lady Mason forge this will?
Trollope early on lets us know the answer to this question. It's typical of his approach to narrative. He almost disdains plots and twists, or says he does, and seems to want to be rid of any reader who is reading just to find out the answer to what could have been a mystery, saying in effect: "If this is the only reason you're reading this, here's the answer. Satisfied? Now please go away."
Anyone who has come to love Trollope knows that the joy of reading him has nothing to do with twists and turns of plot. If you're the type for Trollope, you'll stay to the end, even when you know the answer to the forgery question.
Trollope's father was a barrister, although an utter failure at the bar, and Trollope's lawyers are wonderful. The much feared Chaffanbrass, whom Trollope introduced in The Three Clerks and who will appear again in Phineas Redux, appears here in all his glory. His skill at cross-examination lies not so much in wringing the truth from liars as in making the most innocent and honest of witnesses come across as the sneakiest of perjurers.
Also representing Lady Mason in the will contest is Sir Thomas Furnival. The portrait of the Furnival marriage, and its gradual disintegration as Sir Thomas becomes smitten, almost innocently, with Lady Mason, is Trollope at his best.
November 7, 2022
Two things are interesting to know about this book—it was Trollope’s favorite and George Orwell highly acclaimed it and is quoted to have said it to be, “one of the most brilliant descriptions of a lawsuit in English fiction.” (Source: Wikipedia)
The story circles around a court case once tried and then taken up again twenty years later. At the death of Joseph Mason, his young second wife and their infant son inherit the family’s estate. The will, an accompanying codicil and, as a result, the entire inheritance are brought into question. Besides the focus upon the failings of the legal system, the story’s central themes are guilt and redemption.
What makes the story special and above the ordinary is the skill with which Trollope shows how events play out in the lives of the characters. The character portrayals are what make the novel worth reading. There is a full cast of characters. They vary widely--in age, social standing, occupation and personality. The problems that arise are different for each. There are love attractions, as there are in all of Trollope’s stories. The telling is alternately amusing and heartbreaking. Observing how the different characters behave and think is the focus of the reader’s attention. Some suffer horribly. Others nonchalantly breeze through with scarcely a worry or a thought. It is the variety of characters, all well drawn, that make the book noteworthy. Trollope’s ability to understand what makes people tick is exceptional. You are sure to find a character or two that speaks directly to YOU!
I love how Trollope inserts himself into the telling of the tale, talking directly to his readers, voicing his personal views on ageing, mortality, morality, justice, love, honesty and religion.
Often at the start of Trollope’s books, I worry a bit. I ask myself if I will be able to keep straight all the different characters. Trollope manages to make his character distinct and memorable. They come alive. By the book’s end you know exactly who is who. One has favorites as well as characters you despise. For me, I love the elderly Sir Peregrine Orme, his daughter-in-law and the whole Staveley family. Each for different reasons of course.
I listened to this as a recording at Librovox. It is read by Leonard Wilson. Given that the site’s readers are not professional, the reading here is exceptionally good. The narration I have given four stars. This is an unusually high rating for a Librivox narration.
For those of you who like in-depth character portrayals, Orley Farm should not be missed. The story is long and you sink into another world. The characters are varied and you come to know them well.
*********************
Palliser Series :
1.Can You Forgive Her? 3 stars
2.Phineas Finn 4 stars
Standalones :
*The Vicar of Bullhampton 5 stars
*Orley Farm 4 stars
*Miss Mackenzie 3 stars
*Dr. Wortle's School 3 stars
*Sir Harry Hotspur Of Humblethwaite 2 stars
*The Way We Live Now 1 star
Chronicles of Barsetshire :
1.The Warden 3 stars
2.Barchester Towers 4 stars
3.Dr. Thorne 4 stars
4.Framley Parsonage 4 stars
5.The Small House at Allington 5 stars
6.The Last Chronicle of Barset 5 stars
The story circles around a court case once tried and then taken up again twenty years later. At the death of Joseph Mason, his young second wife and their infant son inherit the family’s estate. The will, an accompanying codicil and, as a result, the entire inheritance are brought into question. Besides the focus upon the failings of the legal system, the story’s central themes are guilt and redemption.
What makes the story special and above the ordinary is the skill with which Trollope shows how events play out in the lives of the characters. The character portrayals are what make the novel worth reading. There is a full cast of characters. They vary widely--in age, social standing, occupation and personality. The problems that arise are different for each. There are love attractions, as there are in all of Trollope’s stories. The telling is alternately amusing and heartbreaking. Observing how the different characters behave and think is the focus of the reader’s attention. Some suffer horribly. Others nonchalantly breeze through with scarcely a worry or a thought. It is the variety of characters, all well drawn, that make the book noteworthy. Trollope’s ability to understand what makes people tick is exceptional. You are sure to find a character or two that speaks directly to YOU!
I love how Trollope inserts himself into the telling of the tale, talking directly to his readers, voicing his personal views on ageing, mortality, morality, justice, love, honesty and religion.
Often at the start of Trollope’s books, I worry a bit. I ask myself if I will be able to keep straight all the different characters. Trollope manages to make his character distinct and memorable. They come alive. By the book’s end you know exactly who is who. One has favorites as well as characters you despise. For me, I love the elderly Sir Peregrine Orme, his daughter-in-law and the whole Staveley family. Each for different reasons of course.
I listened to this as a recording at Librovox. It is read by Leonard Wilson. Given that the site’s readers are not professional, the reading here is exceptionally good. The narration I have given four stars. This is an unusually high rating for a Librivox narration.
For those of you who like in-depth character portrayals, Orley Farm should not be missed. The story is long and you sink into another world. The characters are varied and you come to know them well.
*********************
Palliser Series :
1.Can You Forgive Her? 3 stars
2.Phineas Finn 4 stars
Standalones :
*The Vicar of Bullhampton 5 stars
*Orley Farm 4 stars
*Miss Mackenzie 3 stars
*Dr. Wortle's School 3 stars
*Sir Harry Hotspur Of Humblethwaite 2 stars
*The Way We Live Now 1 star
Chronicles of Barsetshire :
1.The Warden 3 stars
2.Barchester Towers 4 stars
3.Dr. Thorne 4 stars
4.Framley Parsonage 4 stars
5.The Small House at Allington 5 stars
6.The Last Chronicle of Barset 5 stars
October 26, 2023
A new favorite Trollope!
This Trollope novel was not at all on my radar until this year and then I had it on my TBR for several months (May, July, August) and kept putting it off for other books. But of course it fits so perfectly into Victober and the time was right. I was a trifle apprehensive because this novel involves a court case, but I needn't have been. By the time I got to the court case (at the end of the book), I was so invested in the story and characters that I was on the edge of my seat with a fast-beating heart.
Before the story gets going, we learn that a Sir Joseph Mason married and had a family, lost his wife, and many years later married a young woman and had another son by her. This second wife is our Lady Mason. When Sir Joseph died, he left a will that gave his main country seat to his eldest son, Joseph Mason. His will also had a codicil that gave his lesser property, Orley Farm, to his younger son, Lucius Mason, the son of our Lady Mason. This codicil so enraged Joseph Mason, Jr., that he brought Lady Mason to court for forgery. She was acquited and when the story opens, she has been living at Orley Farm for 20 years and her son, Lucius, has just come of age (21). A zealous and vindictive local attorney named Samuel Dockwrath has found papers relating to Sir Joseph's will and the codicil, so he foments for a new trial in which Lady Mason is being accused of perjury for her testimony at the earlier trial.
There are many more characters and side plots besides this core group and Trollope handles their stories brilliantly. He is really a master at weaving plots together in a seamless way. We have Lady Mason's lawyer Mr. Furnival and the story of his wife and daughter. We have Lady Mason's nearest neighbors Sir Peregrine Orme, his daughter-in-law Mrs. Orme, and her son the younger Peregrine Orme. We have Judge Staveley and Lady Staveley who are also county gentry and host a Christmas party for their young adult children and their friends, including Peregrine Orme, Lucius Mason, Sophia Furnival, and a young barrister named Felix Graham. Romantic entanglements and rivalries ensue and it is such good fun. Felix Graham has several of his own plotlines, including his relationship with another young woman. We also have a group of traveling salesmen who are connected to one of the chief witnesses in both court cases. These working class characters have a Dickensian feel to them (and I didn't like their chapters as much, ha!). There are several other lawyers in the mix, too, including Mr Chaffanbrass. I think we would call him a criminal defense attorney. He appears in other Trollope novels as well (Phineas Redux and The Three Clerks, I think) and he is so well drawn.
There are some unusual relationships in this novel that I quite enjoyed. The Staveley family is a very happy and intact family for Trollope. The Staveleys could almost be a family from a Yonge or Alcott novel. (Lots of Trollope families have only one parent or the parents are mostly happy together, etc.) I love the relationship between Judge Staveley and his daughter Madeline. There is a moving female friendship between Lady Mason and Mrs. Orme. Sir Peregrine is also rather a unique character, and I found his storyline touching.
There is a fascinating moral/ethical dilemma at the heart of this novel, and I love that the characters who should be villains are not and vice versa. This all makes for a complexity in the plot that is immensely satisfying to read and, I imagine, would lead to some great discussions.
This Trollope novel was not at all on my radar until this year and then I had it on my TBR for several months (May, July, August) and kept putting it off for other books. But of course it fits so perfectly into Victober and the time was right. I was a trifle apprehensive because this novel involves a court case, but I needn't have been. By the time I got to the court case (at the end of the book), I was so invested in the story and characters that I was on the edge of my seat with a fast-beating heart.
Before the story gets going, we learn that a Sir Joseph Mason married and had a family, lost his wife, and many years later married a young woman and had another son by her. This second wife is our Lady Mason. When Sir Joseph died, he left a will that gave his main country seat to his eldest son, Joseph Mason. His will also had a codicil that gave his lesser property, Orley Farm, to his younger son, Lucius Mason, the son of our Lady Mason. This codicil so enraged Joseph Mason, Jr., that he brought Lady Mason to court for forgery. She was acquited and when the story opens, she has been living at Orley Farm for 20 years and her son, Lucius, has just come of age (21). A zealous and vindictive local attorney named Samuel Dockwrath has found papers relating to Sir Joseph's will and the codicil, so he foments for a new trial in which Lady Mason is being accused of perjury for her testimony at the earlier trial.
There are many more characters and side plots besides this core group and Trollope handles their stories brilliantly. He is really a master at weaving plots together in a seamless way. We have Lady Mason's lawyer Mr. Furnival and the story of his wife and daughter. We have Lady Mason's nearest neighbors Sir Peregrine Orme, his daughter-in-law Mrs. Orme, and her son the younger Peregrine Orme. We have Judge Staveley and Lady Staveley who are also county gentry and host a Christmas party for their young adult children and their friends, including Peregrine Orme, Lucius Mason, Sophia Furnival, and a young barrister named Felix Graham. Romantic entanglements and rivalries ensue and it is such good fun. Felix Graham has several of his own plotlines, including his relationship with another young woman. We also have a group of traveling salesmen who are connected to one of the chief witnesses in both court cases. These working class characters have a Dickensian feel to them (and I didn't like their chapters as much, ha!). There are several other lawyers in the mix, too, including Mr Chaffanbrass. I think we would call him a criminal defense attorney. He appears in other Trollope novels as well (Phineas Redux and The Three Clerks, I think) and he is so well drawn.
There are some unusual relationships in this novel that I quite enjoyed. The Staveley family is a very happy and intact family for Trollope. The Staveleys could almost be a family from a Yonge or Alcott novel. (Lots of Trollope families have only one parent or the parents are mostly happy together, etc.) I love the relationship between Judge Staveley and his daughter Madeline. There is a moving female friendship between Lady Mason and Mrs. Orme. Sir Peregrine is also rather a unique character, and I found his storyline touching.
There is a fascinating moral/ethical dilemma at the heart of this novel, and I love that the characters who should be villains are not and vice versa. This all makes for a complexity in the plot that is immensely satisfying to read and, I imagine, would lead to some great discussions.
March 1, 2021
I gotta take a Trollope tap out for awhile. He just ddrrraaagggssss everything out sooooo much I just can’t for awhile.
May 19, 2011
In a word, wow! Dare I say it? Yes, I prefer Trollope to Dickens - less sentimental and more fully formed characters. Another novel about the machinations of the legal system and how reputations are made and lost with honor and integrity making merely a cameo appearance. Trollope confirms the protagonist's guilt in the first few pages so the question to be answered is whether she'll get off or not. I really should go back and read Bleak House again to compare and contrast the two.
September 7, 2024
“No punishment will be bad enough for her.”
A vengeful man who must have his pound of flesh is out to ruin a woman who he believes defrauded him; he hates the lady (his stepmother) “with all his power of hatred” and even thinks that hanging her would be too lenient. Many lawyers are mobilized, a court trial ensues, and a story unfolds that provides insights into both the strengths and weaknesses of law.
“An innocent person … may be in danger of very great annoyance, and also of very great delay in proving that innocence. Innocent people have died under the weight of such charges.”
As with most Anthony Trollope novels, this one includes numerous romantic subplots. Normally, such subplots are entertaining and work for the benefit of the main story; here, however, I think they mostly distract from it. I wish Trollope had kept the focus on the criminal charges and court case and had given greater attention (more pages) to the legal proceedings (the trial). That said, this is a very good novel and it does contain some of Trollope’s trademarks, such as a concern about society’s treatment of women and broader insights about the human condition.
“They have minds equal to those of men … and ought to be able to make for themselves careers as brilliant.”
“Nothing ruins a young man but ignorance, idleness, and depravity.”
“A man who has walked thirty miles a day for thirty years will probably know what sort of shoes will best suit his feet, and perhaps also the kind of food that will best support him through such exertion; but there is very little chance of his inventing any quicker mode of traveling.”
OTHER MEMORABLE QUOTES:
“There is nothing perhaps so generally consoling to a man as a well-established grievance: a feeling of having been injured, on which his mind can brood from hour to hour, allowing him to plead his own cause in his own court, within his own heart—and always to plead it successfully.”
On lawyers: “And there were great practitioners … men very skilled in the use of questions, who profess that the tongue man, if adequately skilful (sic), may always prevail on guilt to disclose itself, who believe in the power of their own craft to produce truth, as our forefathers believed in torture; and sometimes with the same result.”
“Civilization, as I take it, consists in efforts made not for oneself but for others.”
“A man who strives honestly to do good will generally do good, though seldom perhaps as much as he has himself anticipated.”
“When yet has there been no crisis present to a man who has wanted an excuse?”
“Nobody holds a good opinion of a man who has a low opinion of himself.”
“The stronger and more venomous the charge made, the stronger also would be public opinion in favour of the accused, and the greater the chance of an acquittal.”
“There is no human bliss equal to twelve hours of work with only six hours in which to do it.”
“Success is the necessary misfortune of life, but it is only to the very unfortunate that it comes early.”
“It is very well to have friends to lean upon, but it is not always well to lean upon one’s friends.”
“I cannot understand how any gentleman can be willing to use his intellect for the propagation of untruth, and to be paid for so using it.”
“Money and rank are only good, if every step by which they are gained be good also.”
“To the policeman’s mind every man not a policeman is a guilty being, and the attorneys perhaps share something of this feeling.”
“He fought that battle just as if he was sure of winning, though he knew he was going to lose. Give me the man that can fight a losing battle.”
“Let us make what laws we will, they cannot take precedence of human nature.”
“Stupid is as stupid does.”
“The body dries up and withers away, and the bones grow old; the brain, too, becomes decrepit, as do the sight, the hearing, and the soul. But the heart that is tender once remains tender to the last.”
A vengeful man who must have his pound of flesh is out to ruin a woman who he believes defrauded him; he hates the lady (his stepmother) “with all his power of hatred” and even thinks that hanging her would be too lenient. Many lawyers are mobilized, a court trial ensues, and a story unfolds that provides insights into both the strengths and weaknesses of law.
“An innocent person … may be in danger of very great annoyance, and also of very great delay in proving that innocence. Innocent people have died under the weight of such charges.”
As with most Anthony Trollope novels, this one includes numerous romantic subplots. Normally, such subplots are entertaining and work for the benefit of the main story; here, however, I think they mostly distract from it. I wish Trollope had kept the focus on the criminal charges and court case and had given greater attention (more pages) to the legal proceedings (the trial). That said, this is a very good novel and it does contain some of Trollope’s trademarks, such as a concern about society’s treatment of women and broader insights about the human condition.
“They have minds equal to those of men … and ought to be able to make for themselves careers as brilliant.”
“Nothing ruins a young man but ignorance, idleness, and depravity.”
“A man who has walked thirty miles a day for thirty years will probably know what sort of shoes will best suit his feet, and perhaps also the kind of food that will best support him through such exertion; but there is very little chance of his inventing any quicker mode of traveling.”
OTHER MEMORABLE QUOTES:
“There is nothing perhaps so generally consoling to a man as a well-established grievance: a feeling of having been injured, on which his mind can brood from hour to hour, allowing him to plead his own cause in his own court, within his own heart—and always to plead it successfully.”
On lawyers: “And there were great practitioners … men very skilled in the use of questions, who profess that the tongue man, if adequately skilful (sic), may always prevail on guilt to disclose itself, who believe in the power of their own craft to produce truth, as our forefathers believed in torture; and sometimes with the same result.”
“Civilization, as I take it, consists in efforts made not for oneself but for others.”
“A man who strives honestly to do good will generally do good, though seldom perhaps as much as he has himself anticipated.”
“When yet has there been no crisis present to a man who has wanted an excuse?”
“Nobody holds a good opinion of a man who has a low opinion of himself.”
“The stronger and more venomous the charge made, the stronger also would be public opinion in favour of the accused, and the greater the chance of an acquittal.”
“There is no human bliss equal to twelve hours of work with only six hours in which to do it.”
“Success is the necessary misfortune of life, but it is only to the very unfortunate that it comes early.”
“It is very well to have friends to lean upon, but it is not always well to lean upon one’s friends.”
“I cannot understand how any gentleman can be willing to use his intellect for the propagation of untruth, and to be paid for so using it.”
“Money and rank are only good, if every step by which they are gained be good also.”
“To the policeman’s mind every man not a policeman is a guilty being, and the attorneys perhaps share something of this feeling.”
“He fought that battle just as if he was sure of winning, though he knew he was going to lose. Give me the man that can fight a losing battle.”
“Let us make what laws we will, they cannot take precedence of human nature.”
“Stupid is as stupid does.”
“The body dries up and withers away, and the bones grow old; the brain, too, becomes decrepit, as do the sight, the hearing, and the soul. But the heart that is tender once remains tender to the last.”
December 21, 2016
The plot (did Lady Mason forge her husband's will to gain his estate for her infant son?) covers familiar Trollope territory: the promptings of conscience versus financial safety. Trollope's most interesting characters are those for whom the question is never clear cut. Here's Lady Mason, considering how a possible second marriage could affect the forgery case being brought against her.
That deep character POV is another Trollope speciality and a way of bringing his readers into a reluctant sense of sympathy with his flawed "heroine". But it's also a way of showing moral development: every time we are taken into Lady Mason's POV, although superficially she appears to be going over the same points again and again, in fact her position shifts imperceptibly each time. So when finally we feel that we have been on the journey with her.
I love that Trollope uses such simple language and situations: he doesn't use any of Dickens' flowery rhetoric, melodramatic flourishes or OTT characters. His "drama" is forged from everyday incidents, and presented with a deceptive simplicity. The following scene is ostensibly about hunting; Trollope uses no stage directions in the scene, there's no physical description at all - but for all that, there's a strong sense not just of the characters but of a parallel unspoken conversation that's happening at the same time.
Lovely subtle stuff.
Then she sat herself down, and began to look her future world in the face. Two questions she had to ask. Would it be well for her that this marriage should take place? and would it be well for him? In an off-hand way she had already answered both questions; but she had done so by feeling rather than by thought.
No doubt she would gain much in the coming struggle by such a position as Sir Peregrine would give her. It did seem to her that Mr. Dockwrath and Joseph Mason would hardly dare to bring such a charge as that threatened against the wife of Sir Peregrine Orme. And then, too, what evidence as to character would be so substantial as the evidence of such a marriage? But how would Mr. Furnival [her lawyer] bear it, and if he were offended would it be possible that the fight should be fought without him? No; that would be impossible. The lawyer's knowledge, experience, and skill were as necessary to her as the baronet's position and character. But why should Mr. Furnival be offended by such a marriage? "She did not know," she said to herself. "She could not see that there should be cause of offence." But yet some inner whisper of her conscience told her that there would be offence. Must Mr. Furnival be told; and must he be told at once?
That deep character POV is another Trollope speciality and a way of bringing his readers into a reluctant sense of sympathy with his flawed "heroine". But it's also a way of showing moral development: every time we are taken into Lady Mason's POV, although superficially she appears to be going over the same points again and again, in fact her position shifts imperceptibly each time. So when finally we feel that we have been on the journey with her.
I love that Trollope uses such simple language and situations: he doesn't use any of Dickens' flowery rhetoric, melodramatic flourishes or OTT characters. His "drama" is forged from everyday incidents, and presented with a deceptive simplicity. The following scene is ostensibly about hunting; Trollope uses no stage directions in the scene, there's no physical description at all - but for all that, there's a strong sense not just of the characters but of a parallel unspoken conversation that's happening at the same time.
"May we go as far as the wood?" said Miss Furnival to Augustus [Stavely]. "Without being made to ride over hedges, I mean."
"Oh, dear, yes; and ride about the wood half the day. It will be an hour and a half before a fox will break—even if he ever breaks."
"Dear me! how tired you will be of us. Now do say something pretty, Mr. Staveley."
"It's not my métier. We shall be tired, not of you, but of the thing. Galloping up and down the same cuts in the wood for an hour and a half is not exciting; nor does it improve the matter much if we stand still, as one should do by rights."
"That would be very slow."
"You need not be afraid. They never do here. Everybody will be rushing about as though the very world depended on their galloping."
"I'm so glad; that's just what I like."
"Everybody except Lord Alston, Miss Tristram, and, the other old stagers. They will husband their horses, and come out as fresh at two o'clock as though they were only just out. There is nothing so valuable as experience in hunting."
"Do you think it nice seeing a young lady with so much hunting knowledge?"
"Now you want me to talk slander, but I won't do it. I admire the Miss Tristrams exceedingly, and especially Julia."
"And which is Julia?"
"The youngest; that one riding by herself."
"And why don't you go and express your admiration?"
"Ah, me! why don't we all express the admiration that we feel, and pour sweet praises into the ears of the lady that excites it? Because we are cowards, Miss Furnival, and are afraid even of such a weak thing as a woman."
"Dear me! I should hardly have thought that you would suffer from such terror as that."
"Because you don't quite know me, Miss Furnival."
"And Miss Julia Tristram is the lady that has excited it?"
"If it be not she, it is some other fair votary of Diana at present riding into Monkton Wood."
"Ah, now you are giving me a riddle to guess, and I never guess riddles. I won't even try at it. But they all seem to be stopping."
"Yes, they are putting the hounds into covert. Now if you want to show yourself a good sportsman, look at your watch. You see that Julia Tristram has got hers in her hand."
"What's that for?"
"To time the hounds; to see how long they'll be before they find. It's very pretty work in a small gorse, but in a great wood like this I don't care much for being so accurate. But for heaven's sake don't tell Julia Tristram; I should not have a chance if she thought I was so slack."
Lovely subtle stuff.
November 30, 2017
Did Lady Mason forge her late husband's will?
We learn the answer to that question early enough, but that is not the point to this story. Her guilt or innocence is beside the point. We must hear from the British class system. And, of more consequence, what of the British system of justice?
The word 'verdict' comes from the Latin veredictum, and literally means "to say the truth". Then, now, here, there -- do not imagine that that hallowed derivation is reality.*
"I have an idea that all lawyers are liars," a character says early on. Trollope - (and this was my first Trollope) - shows us that some are and some are not. His cynicism is more nuanced than that of the quoted character, but enough so that he understands a trial is not a search for the truth. Speaking as the author to the reader - (Trollope intrudes himself in this way, but not annoyingly) - Trollope says, "I cannot understand how any gentleman can be willing to use his intellect for the propagation of untruth, and to be paid for so using it." The case is deemed to need the services of the brilliant Mr. Chaffanbrass, who "well understood that the defence of injured innocence was no part of his mission."
Another lawyer is Solomon Aram, highly skilled, acutely aware; but a Jew. Trollope deals with the anti-Semitism matter-of-factly. It made me wince for all the Realism of it, but made me also think of more Then, now, here, there.
One witness tried to tell the truth but he was spectacularly no good at it, so bad in fact that the trial judge charged the jury that they could take it as a given that the witness was stupid. With friends after the trial, the poor witness hangs his head, as despondent as a soul can be. One friend, in a fortified attempt at commiseration, says "what does it matter if all the judges in the land was to call him stupid." To which another friend solemnly intones, "Stupid is as stupid does." So, do not believe that Forrest Gump said it first.
This will not be my last Trollope.
___________________________________
*This reminded me, repeatedly, of a scene from Pete Dexter's Paris Trout. Mrs. McNutt is on the stand and being cross-examined:
"I told the truth about it. You can make it look any which way now, but I told how it happened.
Seagraves said, "That's what we called the jury for, to decide."
She turned then, looking directly at them. "They don't decide what happened," she said."It's already done. All they decide is if they gone do something about it." (less)
We learn the answer to that question early enough, but that is not the point to this story. Her guilt or innocence is beside the point. We must hear from the British class system. And, of more consequence, what of the British system of justice?
The word 'verdict' comes from the Latin veredictum, and literally means "to say the truth". Then, now, here, there -- do not imagine that that hallowed derivation is reality.*
"I have an idea that all lawyers are liars," a character says early on. Trollope - (and this was my first Trollope) - shows us that some are and some are not. His cynicism is more nuanced than that of the quoted character, but enough so that he understands a trial is not a search for the truth. Speaking as the author to the reader - (Trollope intrudes himself in this way, but not annoyingly) - Trollope says, "I cannot understand how any gentleman can be willing to use his intellect for the propagation of untruth, and to be paid for so using it." The case is deemed to need the services of the brilliant Mr. Chaffanbrass, who "well understood that the defence of injured innocence was no part of his mission."
Another lawyer is Solomon Aram, highly skilled, acutely aware; but a Jew. Trollope deals with the anti-Semitism matter-of-factly. It made me wince for all the Realism of it, but made me also think of more Then, now, here, there.
One witness tried to tell the truth but he was spectacularly no good at it, so bad in fact that the trial judge charged the jury that they could take it as a given that the witness was stupid. With friends after the trial, the poor witness hangs his head, as despondent as a soul can be. One friend, in a fortified attempt at commiseration, says "what does it matter if all the judges in the land was to call him stupid." To which another friend solemnly intones, "Stupid is as stupid does." So, do not believe that Forrest Gump said it first.
This will not be my last Trollope.
___________________________________
*This reminded me, repeatedly, of a scene from Pete Dexter's Paris Trout. Mrs. McNutt is on the stand and being cross-examined:
"I told the truth about it. You can make it look any which way now, but I told how it happened.
Seagraves said, "That's what we called the jury for, to decide."
She turned then, looking directly at them. "They don't decide what happened," she said."It's already done. All they decide is if they gone do something about it." (less)
October 28, 2010
This isn't one of Trollope's best-known novels (though it's hardly obscure), but I think it's one of his best. Years ago, when Sir Joseph Mason died, there had been some question about his will, which left most of his property to his eldest son but included a codicil leaving Orley Farm to his youngest, Lucius, son of his second wife. When the case came to trial, the authenticity of the will was apparently proved, and Lucius inherited. Now, though, an enemy of Lady Mason has uncovered evidence which reopens that old case.
The plot revolves around the doubtful will and possible forgery, but Trollope isn't really interested in creating suspense around whether or not Lady Mason is guilty; he makes that clear early on, and it's her fate, whether guilty or innocent, and the outcome of the second trial that provides the suspense. There are romantic subplots, of course, and to me, easily the most interesting one is the moving, poignant relationship between Lady Mason and old Sir Peregrine Orme. In fact, the older people are generally more interesting here than the younger, especially Lady Mason, whose richer personality and experience make her a far more complex heroine than the more typical young women. If you've never read Trollope, I think this would be a good place to start.
The plot revolves around the doubtful will and possible forgery, but Trollope isn't really interested in creating suspense around whether or not Lady Mason is guilty; he makes that clear early on, and it's her fate, whether guilty or innocent, and the outcome of the second trial that provides the suspense. There are romantic subplots, of course, and to me, easily the most interesting one is the moving, poignant relationship between Lady Mason and old Sir Peregrine Orme. In fact, the older people are generally more interesting here than the younger, especially Lady Mason, whose richer personality and experience make her a far more complex heroine than the more typical young women. If you've never read Trollope, I think this would be a good place to start.
June 6, 2017
Loved this book.
Even though we know the outcome Trollope just draws you in.
Found this utterly compelling.
Wonderful characters some to love and some to hate.
Is Lady Mason guilty?
You will have to read to find out!
Even though we know the outcome Trollope just draws you in.
Found this utterly compelling.
Wonderful characters some to love and some to hate.
Is Lady Mason guilty?
You will have to read to find out!
September 4, 2015
A most excellent novel! Like Dickens, Trollope goes after a particular facet of English life in most of his novels and makes you understand why you should care, or be concerned. In this instance, it is the legal profession and the right and wrong decisions that people make. There's something about every Trollope novel that I've read that just slowly but surely draws me in until I simply can't put the book down. This guy is so underrated by many, and I just can't--for the life of me--understand why. "Orley Farm" is a great novel!
February 20, 2017
Nonostante le numerose pagine (circa 1142), il piacere che ogni volta provo leggendo Trollope è impagabile.
Con perfetta britannicità, si sviluppano i drammi e gli idilli delle classi medie campagnole – in un ciclo che converge in un appassionante intrigo legale sulla falsificazione di un testamento da parte di Lady Mason, adesso proprietaria di Orley Farm.
Benché l’epilogo sia pressoché certo sin dall’inizio, Anthony Trollope è - ancora una volta - semplicemente perfetto sotto ogni aspetto (cit.)
Con perfetta britannicità, si sviluppano i drammi e gli idilli delle classi medie campagnole – in un ciclo che converge in un appassionante intrigo legale sulla falsificazione di un testamento da parte di Lady Mason, adesso proprietaria di Orley Farm.
Benché l’epilogo sia pressoché certo sin dall’inizio, Anthony Trollope è - ancora una volta - semplicemente perfetto sotto ogni aspetto (cit.)
May 15, 2016
This is my tenth Trollope, if I’m counting right and while I have really enjoyed reading them all, this one had me literally hooked right from the beginning and I couldn’t wait to get back to it, each time I put it down (at about 700 pages, no way this could be read in one go). Trollope shows once again that he knows people and aspects of life and relationships—love, friendship, jealousy, the zealousness of youth and its tendency to see things much more in black and white, and follies (of the young and the old). And he certainly also knows how to tell a story or, in this case several interwoven stories—all of which hold one’s interest, but particularly the central tale of the Orley Farm case in which while the ‘did she do it?’ does not remain a mystery for long, the outcome of the trial does till almost the end. An excellent read.
April 15, 2021
“For many years this prosperous gentleman had lived at a small country house, some five-and-twenty miles from London, called Orley Farm. This had been his first purchase of land, and he had never given up his residence there, although his wealth would have entitled him to the enjoyment of a larger establishment. On the birth of his youngest son, at which time his eldest was nearly forty years old, he made certain moderate provision for the infant, as he had already made moderate provision for his young wife; but it was then clearly understood by the eldest son that Orley Farm was to go with the Groby Park estate to him as the heir. When, however, Sir Joseph died, a codicil to his will, executed with due legal formalities, bequeathed Orley Farm to his youngest son, little Lucius Mason.”
The above paragraph is the third one on page one, where Trollope sets up the major plot of the novel. That codicil to the will is contested but ultimately upheld and the mother of the infant Lucius Mason is able to keep Orley Farm for her child and away from the grasping hands of her angry stepson Joseph Mason Jr. However, some 20 years later, the case is re-opened and the still beautiful Lady Mason isn’t so sure she has the strength to endure yet another lawsuit and trial. He son, Lucius has reached his majority and wishes to be his mother’s defender in this matter and yet she refuses his assistance and instead relies on that of the family solicitor Mr. Furnival as well as that of their neighbor, Sir Peregrine Orme.
Ultimately, the question is less is Lady Mason guilty of forgery or perjury and more will she be found guilty of such at the trial. One of the larger questions Trollope is looking at in this novel is the amorality of the law and whether a lawyer is supposed to care more about the truth and justice than they are about their client’s innocence or lack thereof.
Also, of course, there are also multiple romantic subplots and much gentle humor among the drama. This is a Trollope novel, after all. I found it interesting that Trollope also introduces some lower class characters with the commercial travelers, Mr. Mr. Kantwise and Mr. Moulder as well as the “moulded bride”, young Mary Snow, the fiancée of Felix Grant. It isn’t unheard of in his novels, but usually he sticks quite closely to the middle and upper classes in his books. I really enjoyed reading Orley Farm. It is a very long novel, but those are my favorite from Trollope…where in introduces many subplots and characters which whom I can get acquainted.
The above paragraph is the third one on page one, where Trollope sets up the major plot of the novel. That codicil to the will is contested but ultimately upheld and the mother of the infant Lucius Mason is able to keep Orley Farm for her child and away from the grasping hands of her angry stepson Joseph Mason Jr. However, some 20 years later, the case is re-opened and the still beautiful Lady Mason isn’t so sure she has the strength to endure yet another lawsuit and trial. He son, Lucius has reached his majority and wishes to be his mother’s defender in this matter and yet she refuses his assistance and instead relies on that of the family solicitor Mr. Furnival as well as that of their neighbor, Sir Peregrine Orme.
Ultimately, the question is less is Lady Mason guilty of forgery or perjury and more will she be found guilty of such at the trial. One of the larger questions Trollope is looking at in this novel is the amorality of the law and whether a lawyer is supposed to care more about the truth and justice than they are about their client’s innocence or lack thereof.
Also, of course, there are also multiple romantic subplots and much gentle humor among the drama. This is a Trollope novel, after all. I found it interesting that Trollope also introduces some lower class characters with the commercial travelers, Mr. Mr. Kantwise and Mr. Moulder as well as the “moulded bride”, young Mary Snow, the fiancée of Felix Grant. It isn’t unheard of in his novels, but usually he sticks quite closely to the middle and upper classes in his books. I really enjoyed reading Orley Farm. It is a very long novel, but those are my favorite from Trollope…where in introduces many subplots and characters which whom I can get acquainted.
July 19, 2020
Perhaps unsurprisingly, this feels the most complete of all the Trollope novels I've read, which should be little surprise. As a concantenation of the disparate parts that made up the Barchester world, but with legal proceedings as the central animating force of the plot and little time for ecclesiastic politics, the focus of Orley Farm is severly constricted... for a novel by Anthony Trollope.
Complete doesn't necessarily mean best, however, and it is difficult to compare this to a series of novels such as Barchester. Instead, it bears comparison to Dickens' Bleak House, but with a keen eye on the alluring powers of the criminal party and with some hostility toward the mean-spirits that so often prove the motors of long-lived court cases. All is done with characteristic care and inversions of the expected, which becomes about expected given the author, and the cast runs from solicitors, barristers, and trades-people to the gentry and their extended families.
There are the usual marriages, relationships, and hostilities, but also pleasant eccentricities and particularities. These range from iron-worked furniture to the woman at the centre of the whole affair, Lady Mason, whose character is a major point of interest for readers. Her son, Lucius Mason, also proves a fascinating foil for a barrister, Felix Graham, who along with young Peregrine Orme set us an interesting play of models of masculinity in a world moving on from gentility and towards reform (Graham) or revolution (Mason, given the strong intimations of his studies of Marx and Engels), but the absolute unlikeliness of the present form of governance to continue (Orme).
Perhaps on to the Pallister series? Orley Farm is a hell of a high from which to depart!
Complete doesn't necessarily mean best, however, and it is difficult to compare this to a series of novels such as Barchester. Instead, it bears comparison to Dickens' Bleak House, but with a keen eye on the alluring powers of the criminal party and with some hostility toward the mean-spirits that so often prove the motors of long-lived court cases. All is done with characteristic care and inversions of the expected, which becomes about expected given the author, and the cast runs from solicitors, barristers, and trades-people to the gentry and their extended families.
There are the usual marriages, relationships, and hostilities, but also pleasant eccentricities and particularities. These range from iron-worked furniture to the woman at the centre of the whole affair, Lady Mason, whose character is a major point of interest for readers. Her son, Lucius Mason, also proves a fascinating foil for a barrister, Felix Graham, who along with young Peregrine Orme set us an interesting play of models of masculinity in a world moving on from gentility and towards reform (Graham) or revolution (Mason, given the strong intimations of his studies of Marx and Engels), but the absolute unlikeliness of the present form of governance to continue (Orme).
Perhaps on to the Pallister series? Orley Farm is a hell of a high from which to depart!
June 5, 2015
I have long been a fan of Anthony Trollope and decided to read this one because I wanted to write a Trollope TV adaptation. I hoped this novel would lend itself to that.
It did. Since I write crime fiction, I really enjoyed the criminal aspect of this compelling legal drama. Although the story took some time to get rolling, once it did, Orley Farm became a page-turner.
One of the reasons I enjoy Trollope so much is his complicated female characters. He has a real gift for making his women characters multi-dimensional and interesting. In addition, the book has many characters, male and female, who seem as real as people you'd meet today.
Trollope also offers wonderful insights into the human condition as well as observations on class and gender in Victorian England. The book is witty, romantic, and tragic--and well worth your time.
It did. Since I write crime fiction, I really enjoyed the criminal aspect of this compelling legal drama. Although the story took some time to get rolling, once it did, Orley Farm became a page-turner.
One of the reasons I enjoy Trollope so much is his complicated female characters. He has a real gift for making his women characters multi-dimensional and interesting. In addition, the book has many characters, male and female, who seem as real as people you'd meet today.
Trollope also offers wonderful insights into the human condition as well as observations on class and gender in Victorian England. The book is witty, romantic, and tragic--and well worth your time.
June 29, 2019
Compulsive reading, in spite of its length. This is my 8th Trollope, and I'm looking forward to others. He understood human nature so well, and gives us rounded and complex characters, with such great little asides to the reader along the way.
August 5, 2009
Like every Trollope book I read right after I read it, this was my favorite. One of the best legal suspense thrillers, where you can't help but love the wrong-doer and hope for her to get off the hook, but will she? Oodles of good characters, irony, tension, and plenty of pages to get into it. And then there's Sir Peregrine who makes you want to spend your days espousing honor and good character, sipping claret and eating mutton, playing whist and petting your dogs.
August 13, 2023
"Orley Farm" de Anthony Trollope é uma história envolvente sobre famílias complicadas, brigas legais e dilemas pessoais na Inglaterra do século XIX. A trama se passa em torno de uma herança,fala sobre amor e traição, mostrando várias emoções humanas.
No centro da história, há uma disputa legal pela propriedade de Orley Farm, que fica perto de Londres. Tudo começa depois que Joseph Mason de Groby Park, Yorkshire, morre e deixa sua propriedade para a família. Mas há um documento legal que deixa a propriedade para sua segunda esposa e filho pequeno. Esse documento foi escrito pela esposa, e embora uma das testemunhas tenha falecido, uma batalha legal confirma sua validade.
Vinte anos depois, Lady Mason vive em Orley Farm com seu filho adulto, Lucius. Um inquilino chamado Samuel Dockwrath é pedido para sair por Lucius, que quer experimentar novas formas de agricultura. Dockwrath, se sentindo injustiçado e sabendo do caso legal, encontra um segundo documento assinado pelas mesmas testemunhas na mesma data, embora elas só se lembrem de ter assinado um. Dockwrath vai até Yorkshire, onde Joseph Mason, o filho mais velho do primeiro casamento, vive. Ele convence Mason a processar Lady Mason por perjúrio, mas a acusação falha. No entanto, Lady Mason confessa mais tarde em particular que cometeu a falsificação e renuncia à propriedade movida pela culpa.
O livro também fala de outras histórias, como o relacionamento em desenvolvimento entre Felix Graham, um advogado jovem e relativamente pobre, e Madeline Staveley, filha de um juiz. Entre os personagens principais estão Sir Peregrine Orme, que se apaixona por Lady Mason, e Mr. Furnival, outro advogado, que se torna amigo dela e desperta ciúmes de sua esposa.
O detalhamento da escrita de Trollope e o desenvolvimento minucioso dos personagens fazem com que os leitores entendam a sociedade vitoriana e seus valores. O autor também traz observações perspicazes e toques de humor sutil, enriquecendo a história, mesmo quando lida com assuntos sérios.
Apesar de algumas críticas à precisão das partes legais da história, "Orley Farm" se destaca ao representar as complexidades emocionais e os relacionamentos humanos. Resumindo, é uma história fascinante que equilibra bem os aspectos legais com as lutas pessoais, sendo uma obra envolvente dentro da coleção de criações literárias de Anthony Trollope.
No centro da história, há uma disputa legal pela propriedade de Orley Farm, que fica perto de Londres. Tudo começa depois que Joseph Mason de Groby Park, Yorkshire, morre e deixa sua propriedade para a família. Mas há um documento legal que deixa a propriedade para sua segunda esposa e filho pequeno. Esse documento foi escrito pela esposa, e embora uma das testemunhas tenha falecido, uma batalha legal confirma sua validade.
Vinte anos depois, Lady Mason vive em Orley Farm com seu filho adulto, Lucius. Um inquilino chamado Samuel Dockwrath é pedido para sair por Lucius, que quer experimentar novas formas de agricultura. Dockwrath, se sentindo injustiçado e sabendo do caso legal, encontra um segundo documento assinado pelas mesmas testemunhas na mesma data, embora elas só se lembrem de ter assinado um. Dockwrath vai até Yorkshire, onde Joseph Mason, o filho mais velho do primeiro casamento, vive. Ele convence Mason a processar Lady Mason por perjúrio, mas a acusação falha. No entanto, Lady Mason confessa mais tarde em particular que cometeu a falsificação e renuncia à propriedade movida pela culpa.
O livro também fala de outras histórias, como o relacionamento em desenvolvimento entre Felix Graham, um advogado jovem e relativamente pobre, e Madeline Staveley, filha de um juiz. Entre os personagens principais estão Sir Peregrine Orme, que se apaixona por Lady Mason, e Mr. Furnival, outro advogado, que se torna amigo dela e desperta ciúmes de sua esposa.
O detalhamento da escrita de Trollope e o desenvolvimento minucioso dos personagens fazem com que os leitores entendam a sociedade vitoriana e seus valores. O autor também traz observações perspicazes e toques de humor sutil, enriquecendo a história, mesmo quando lida com assuntos sérios.
Apesar de algumas críticas à precisão das partes legais da história, "Orley Farm" se destaca ao representar as complexidades emocionais e os relacionamentos humanos. Resumindo, é uma história fascinante que equilibra bem os aspectos legais com as lutas pessoais, sendo uma obra envolvente dentro da coleção de criações literárias de Anthony Trollope.
October 6, 2010
I’ve been longing to review this wonderful book and it’s taken me too long to get to it and it’s just not as fresh on my mind as it was. More’s the pity.
This was an incredibly powerful book! Truly another Trollope masterpiece. Actually, Mr. Trollope mentioned during his lifetime that this was his favorite creation. He felt like it was a perfect mix of sensation and politics (or truth about humanity)—a book with a fascinating and fast-paced story no one could put down paired with political talk that made sense, wasn’t too preachy or lengthy, that fit right in with the story. This book was nearer 900 pages than 800, yet it wasn’t long enough—I wanted more! Still, it had a satisfying, natural ending. To me, that’s the mark of a great story.
I can hardly tell anything about the story without giving the plot away, so that makes reviewing a little bit difficult. The story centers around a very wealthy man who lost his first wife early in life (leaving a few children), and then married again late in life. He and his second wife had a son, to whom the man supposedly left one small part of his property. This infuriated his eldest son, who caused the will to be contested. The son lost the suit, but never got over it. The young wife and son lived on at the property in question, Orley Farm, until years later when circumstances occurred which caused this eldest son to again contest the will in court.
The politics of the work revolve around how Mr. Trollope felt about the judicial courts of England at the time. He wondered at the way lawyers/attorneys/barristers—many of them good men—could confidently and vigorously defend a guilty person while retaining a clear conscience, under the impression that such was the way of the world, and it was their profession. The question still remains, and Mr. Trollope puts his own unique stamp, and his own credulity at how that could be, on it, of course.
The characters were wonderful, particularly the Orme and Staveley families—every one of them. The devotion and true, honest, loving, respectful relationships in both families was breathtaking. Madeline Staveley’s respect for her parents (and theirs for her) was model. Judge Stavelely and Sir Peregrine Orme were each adorable men in different ways. The honesty and good judgment of the first and the chivalry, loyalty and charity of the second was, again, model.
There were more unlikeable characters in this book than in other Trollopes I’ve read. Usually Mr. Trollope tried to show an understandable and therefore sympathetic side to most of his villains but there wasn’t much in the Joseph Mason family or for Mr. Dockwrath to find worthy of sympathy.
And the side characters like the Moulder and the Furnival families made the story even more rich.
That’s about all I have time and thought for, and I’m sure none of what I said made anyone want to spend the time on this almost 900 page book. So I’ll finish with the thought that it’s been a while since I spent that much time with what is really, truly a GREAT book. The entire moral fibre was outstanding. The more time I spend with Trollope, the more I respect his work and the man he must have been to create the body, type and quality of work he did. I would have loved to have been able to look inside his head—the sheer amount of thought, and the important, applicable character of his thought is almost overwhelming for a person like me who spends the most of my daily life thinking of such mundane things. He’s become a serious rival in my affections alongside Mr. Dickens—and for those of you who know how I love Dickens, that’s great praise indeed.
This was an incredibly powerful book! Truly another Trollope masterpiece. Actually, Mr. Trollope mentioned during his lifetime that this was his favorite creation. He felt like it was a perfect mix of sensation and politics (or truth about humanity)—a book with a fascinating and fast-paced story no one could put down paired with political talk that made sense, wasn’t too preachy or lengthy, that fit right in with the story. This book was nearer 900 pages than 800, yet it wasn’t long enough—I wanted more! Still, it had a satisfying, natural ending. To me, that’s the mark of a great story.
I can hardly tell anything about the story without giving the plot away, so that makes reviewing a little bit difficult. The story centers around a very wealthy man who lost his first wife early in life (leaving a few children), and then married again late in life. He and his second wife had a son, to whom the man supposedly left one small part of his property. This infuriated his eldest son, who caused the will to be contested. The son lost the suit, but never got over it. The young wife and son lived on at the property in question, Orley Farm, until years later when circumstances occurred which caused this eldest son to again contest the will in court.
The politics of the work revolve around how Mr. Trollope felt about the judicial courts of England at the time. He wondered at the way lawyers/attorneys/barristers—many of them good men—could confidently and vigorously defend a guilty person while retaining a clear conscience, under the impression that such was the way of the world, and it was their profession. The question still remains, and Mr. Trollope puts his own unique stamp, and his own credulity at how that could be, on it, of course.
The characters were wonderful, particularly the Orme and Staveley families—every one of them. The devotion and true, honest, loving, respectful relationships in both families was breathtaking. Madeline Staveley’s respect for her parents (and theirs for her) was model. Judge Stavelely and Sir Peregrine Orme were each adorable men in different ways. The honesty and good judgment of the first and the chivalry, loyalty and charity of the second was, again, model.
There were more unlikeable characters in this book than in other Trollopes I’ve read. Usually Mr. Trollope tried to show an understandable and therefore sympathetic side to most of his villains but there wasn’t much in the Joseph Mason family or for Mr. Dockwrath to find worthy of sympathy.
And the side characters like the Moulder and the Furnival families made the story even more rich.
That’s about all I have time and thought for, and I’m sure none of what I said made anyone want to spend the time on this almost 900 page book. So I’ll finish with the thought that it’s been a while since I spent that much time with what is really, truly a GREAT book. The entire moral fibre was outstanding. The more time I spend with Trollope, the more I respect his work and the man he must have been to create the body, type and quality of work he did. I would have loved to have been able to look inside his head—the sheer amount of thought, and the important, applicable character of his thought is almost overwhelming for a person like me who spends the most of my daily life thinking of such mundane things. He’s become a serious rival in my affections alongside Mr. Dickens—and for those of you who know how I love Dickens, that’s great praise indeed.
August 17, 2019
This is my fourth book by Trollope after Lady Anna that left me with mixed feelings, Dr. Wortle's School that I really liked and The Warden that was a little disappointing after the last one. Orley Farm is definitely the best of those four book by Trollope I've read so far.
First, it has all the elements the author include in his work, but it's longer and so more developed than shorter novels. Once again, the way he wrote his charaters is really believable: you feel like you're watching this story unfold before your eyes instead of just reading it. I already mentioned in previous reviews that for me, Trollope's best quality in his novels was the characterization of his characters and Orley Farm proves it once again. All the characters are believable and interesting, even though Lady Mason is by far my favorite because of her complexity. The various cast of female charaters is also interesting, especially since they're written by a man who does it very well. Then, there's the story itself which has been the most appealing to me so far: the will, the court, the judgement, the reactions, the humor, the end which can be judged as outrageous. The sub-plots were also very-well handled. I was totally involved while I was reading this, which I admit is the first time since I started to read Trollope, and I'm very glad I picked this novel that I can only recommend to everyone.
First, it has all the elements the author include in his work, but it's longer and so more developed than shorter novels. Once again, the way he wrote his charaters is really believable: you feel like you're watching this story unfold before your eyes instead of just reading it. I already mentioned in previous reviews that for me, Trollope's best quality in his novels was the characterization of his characters and Orley Farm proves it once again. All the characters are believable and interesting, even though Lady Mason is by far my favorite because of her complexity. The various cast of female charaters is also interesting, especially since they're written by a man who does it very well. Then, there's the story itself which has been the most appealing to me so far: the will, the court, the judgement, the reactions, the humor, the end which can be judged as outrageous. The sub-plots were also very-well handled. I was totally involved while I was reading this, which I admit is the first time since I started to read Trollope, and I'm very glad I picked this novel that I can only recommend to everyone.
October 2, 2015
I have quite a crush on this author. I discovered the pleasure of reading his books this year and this is the 7th book I have read by him. He knows people and their motivations so well. Orley Farm contains love interests between young people, and secrets that torment people (I am being vague to avoid giving anything away), and describes living in country homes and in city houses, the rules of society then, and some humor sprinkled in. The event that pulls this book along relentlessly is the trial to see who has the right to own Orley Farm, either Lady Mason and her son Lucius Mason, who have lived there for more than twenty years, or the half brother of Lucius, Mr. Mason of Groby Park. Mr. Mason is full of rage against Lady Mason and pushes with all his might to get Orley Farm. More than that he wants Lady Mason sentenced to prison. Trollope uses some fun surnames for characters and he injects himself with humorous asides along the lines of "if I were a better author I could readily explain ...". If you are like me you will long remember some of these characters like Lady Mason, Sir Peregrine Orme, Sophie Furnival, Felix Graham and many more. Trollope's books make me happy!
November 25, 2015
Did Trollope need an editor? On one hand, this is a long book and sometimes the leisurely pace makes you wish he would skip quickly to more exciting subplots. On the other hand, maybe you should just relax and enjoy the ride. And I did! The book is filled with suspense, great characters, interesting historical observations and a surprising number of laugh-out-loud moments (The battle of the 'mercial room! Dinner at Groby Park! The demise of Martha Biggs! The ever mercenary Miss Furnival!). That said, I'm not sure I'll be tackling another Trollope any time soon. So to answer the initial question: yes, Trollope probably could've used an editor (von Bauhr's dream!?) but one with a light touch.
November 17, 2010
This was the first (but hopefully not the last) Trollope book I have read. I thought the writing, so personal as if directed solely at me was exceptional. It was easy to follow the life and times of the characters as they ranged between love and the law. It was an all inclusive book that covered so many aspects of Victorian life and answered the question of what makes one a noble person.
I enjoyed all the characters and thought the author did a wonderful job of making them real and ever so vulnerable. This was said to be Trollope's favorite book.
I enjoyed all the characters and thought the author did a wonderful job of making them real and ever so vulnerable. This was said to be Trollope's favorite book.
January 29, 2019
Trollope racconta nella sua biografia ( che voglio assolutamente leggere) che i suoi amici lo definiscono “ il suo romanzo migliore “ , d’accordissimo con loro ! Bello ed attualissimo, soprattutto la parte del processo! Anche se ogni volta che termino un suo romanzo mi sembra sempre che sia il più bello.... Mi dispiace averlo finito.... Dovrò rimediare leggendo o rileggendo un altro quanto prima; fortunatamente era uno scrittore prolifico e fortunatamente Sellerio ( grazie! ) li sta stampando tutti ( spero) .
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