Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope

The first of Trollope's Palliser novels doesn't disappoint as the borders of the domestic and political spheres of Victorian England become blurred. In his autobiography, the prolific author mentions that he saw himself as a "Conservative Liberal", a description that becomes a prosaic reality in the forms of memorable characters such as Lady Glencora, Alice Vavasor, and Arabella Greenow. The story's use of political aspirations and questionable marital decisions to drive plot are wonderfully utilized, and while the politically inclined Trollope couldn't help but make various political references to Parliamentary proceedings, they don't impede the wonderful conversations that occur between the aforementioned characters and their respective romantic interests. Trollope's intrusive narrator makes for a fantastically frustrating character in his own right, and the relationship between the characters and himself makes the novel a fine lead for the subsequent Palliser novels. I give Can You Forgive Her? 5 stars for the wonderful way Trollope humanizes the atypical Victorian male and female, and his accomplishment of making political elections matter to the development of plot, the domestic sphere of Victorian England, and--surprisingly--to me. :thumbsup: