Part of Palliser, book 6
First published 1995
Duke Plantagenet Palliser faces an unfamiliar crisis. His beloved wife Glencora has died, leaving him alone with three grown children who have made choices that horrify him. His daughter Lady Mary secretly courts a poor gentleman, blessed by her late mother but forbidden by her father. His eldest son Lord Silverbridge has entered Parliament as expected but fallen for an American heiress who demands the Duke's approval before she will marry. His youngest son Lord Gerald has been thrown out of Oxford entirely. The Duke has spent his life managing political affairs while his wife handled their children. Now he must navigate territory he never learned. His government career has ended, forcing him to confront family problems he once avoided. Each child challenges the social order he has always defended. Lady Mary refuses to abandon her unsuitable love. Silverbridge will not give up his American. Gerald shows no remorse for his academic disgrace. The Duke must choose between enforcing the rigid standards of his class and accepting the changing world his children represent. This final volume of Trollope's Palliser series tests whether a man defined by duty can learn to bend without breaking his family apart.
Genres: family, literary-fiction, historical-fiction, 19th-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-drama, generational-conflict
Period: 19th-Century
525 pages · Paperback · penguin classics