Can You Forgive Her?

Everyone grows a bit, even the villains in their villany, the worst of whom ends in exile and I should like more of his story which would be very interesting. The only one who truly suffers and will probably not end well is the ne’er-do-well: to lack ambition and drive seems to be the only flaw Trollope doesn’t forgive.

Everyone gets tweaked a bit, but always with affection. The snobbish petty squire gets saddled with a wife below his ambitions. The rake is rewarded with a wise widow with hands firmly on the purse-strings who will allow him just enough freedom but keep him from ruin. Palliser grows up a little and becomes more human, Grey is induced to serve in public life, which is the obligation of the British aristocracy. The prideful Alice is redeemed.

I’ve been all summer reading this. Perhaps that approximates how it felt to its original readers reading it in serialized form.