Saturday, September 26, 2015

The Golden Lion of Granpère, by Anthony Trollope

This short novel, which originally ran as a serial in 1872, is set in Alsace-Lorraine.  Most of the action takes place around the Lion d'Or, an inn in the small town of Granpère.  Michel Voss, the owner, runs it with the help of his wife's niece Marie Bromar.  Strong, capable and intelligent, she is a shrewd businesswoman, which struck me as unusual in a Trollope heroine.  She is much more active in the business than her aunt, who is Michel's second wife.  Michel has a son by his first wife, George, who managed a timber business for his father, as well as helping with the inn.  George and Marie are in love, but George's father told him, "I won't have it." So George left the business and his family - not to mention his love - to go to work for an elderly cousin, running her hotel in a nearby town.  He hasn't been home in a year, nor has he sent any word to Marie.  Meanwhile, Marie's aunt and uncle have picked out a husband for her: Adrian Urmand, a Swiss merchant, rich and handsome (though he rather overdoes the hair pomade).  Marie thinks George has forgotten her, George thinks Marie is a fickle woman, Michel Voss thinks he knows best for both, and Adrian thinks he is getting the perfect wife.  It is probably not really a spoiler to say that they are all wrong, because Trollope lays most of this out in the first chapters.  He winds them all up in these knots of emotion and misunderstanding, and then very cleverly unravels the knots.

This story has some familiar Trollopian plot elements, though they develop in an unfamiliar setting.  According to the introduction in my World's Classics edition, Anthony Trollope intended to publish this anonymously, like his earlier works Nina Balatka and Linda Tressel.  He was outed quickly as the author of Nina Balatka, when a reviewer noted a "characteristic Trollopian turn of phrase, 'to make one's way,' used of occasions when the difficulty is psychological and not physical."  I have never noticed that phrase myself.  I have however noticed how often Trollope's heroines are described as "worshiping" their lovers or husbands. I don't think I've come across that in other Victorian novelists, but I'm keeping an eye out.

Even in this short novel, Trollope still managed to work in some post office business: Marie writes a crucial letter to Adrian and sends it on the way to Basle in Switzerland, calculating how long it will take to get there (tracing its route).  When she tells her uncle of it, he sets off to intercept it, but he finds he cannot interfere with the mail.  Trollope sometimes seems as interested in how how a letter gets to its destination as in what happens once it arrives.

I enjoyed this quiet story.  I've read some of Trollope's short stories, set in France and Germany.  The Oxford companion to Trollope notes that he and his wife Rose visited Alsace-Lorraine shortly before he started writing this in 1867.  As the editor says, this may not be an exact picture of life there, but as always with Trollope it is his characters that make his story come alive.  Marie in particular is an interesting heroine.  She isn't well educated - she has trouble writing that important letter - but she is smart and strong.  One of the reasons her uncle gives for wanting her to marry Adrian is that she shouldn't have to to work at the inn all her days.  She is certainly good at essentially managing it for him, she seems to enjoy it, and I hope she will continue to use her talents.

I have been distracted from my reading goals for the Trollope Bicentennial this year, and I also missed reading Framley Parsonage for Audrey's #6Barsets project.  I am hoping to rejoin for The Small House at Allington.

On a side note, this is my 500th post, which seems a little hard to believe.  As it happens, my very first post was on Anthony Trollope, more than four years ago. I know there will be many more to come.  The Trollope section of the TBR stacks doesn't seem to get any smaller, and then there is the pleasure of re-reading, of meeting old friends again in his stories.

18 comments:

  1. Congratulations with this 500th post. I always enjoy your reviews and often put a book you write about on my TBR list. Thank you for broadening my reading!

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    1. Thank you, Anon! One of my favorite parts of blogging is the exchange of authors and books between readers. My TBR stacks have certainly grown over these four years :)

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  2. Congratulations on your 500th post, and wishing you (and us!) many many more. It's a perfect time for you to rejoin us, as JoAnn and I are just staring Small House. We would love to have you with us.

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    1. Thank you, Audrey! I will pull The Small House off the shelf!

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  3. How fitting that both your first and 500th posts are about Trollope - congratulations! As Audrey mentioned above, we are just now starting The Small House at Allington... would love to have you read with us!

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    1. JoAnn, it's one I have been curious to re-read (for the first time), to see if my ideas about it have changed - and now that I've read more Trollope.

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  4. Congratulations! 500 posts is a big achievement. I haven't heard of this book until now, but I like the sound of it - especially as all of the Trollope novels I've read so far have been set in England.

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    1. Helen, I knew the title, but I thought it was his book of historical fiction, which I haven't been in a rush to find. Then I read a synopsis of this, and thought it sounded fun. The historical fiction is La Vendée, as it turns out.

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  5. Congratulations on 500 posts! I'm slowly making my way through Trollope so it's good to have a review of one of the lesser-known novels. I'd also like to read Linda & Nina one of these days so thanks for the reminder.

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    1. Thank you, lyn! I'm also interested in Nina & Linda - and in why Trollope wanted to write anonymously in the first place.

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  6. Congratulations on 500 posts, that is quite an achievement! I have never heard of this Trollope. I have never read a Trollope that wasn't set in England. Of course, he wrote a lot and I have only read 8 or so. Currently, I have been working my way through the Palliser novels.

    I love the Gaudy Night quote you use in your header.

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    1. Thanks, Jennifer! The only other novel I've read not set in the UK is Harry Heathcote (which is set in Australia), but lots of his short stories are - at least the ones I've read.

      I've thought about changing the title of my blog to "Drunk on Words" :)

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  7. Happy 500th post! That's awesome. :)
    I still need to read something by Trollope; maybe I should start with one of his shorter works. All of his books sound good, though. Maybe next summer I'll just read Trollope!

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    1. Thank you, Lark! You could definitely spend a summer just reading Trollope, and never run out of books :)

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  8. Congratulations on your 500th post! This Trollope book sounds quite different from the ones I have read. I don't even recall seeing the title in his list of books, but he did write so many. I'm attracted by it, especially as you say it's short!

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    1. Thanks, Katrina! This does seem to be one of the more obscure titles. I came across it while I was browsing the Oxford readers' companion and thought it sounded interesting.

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  9. Congratulations on your 500th post! I've been wanting to read a completely different Trollope since I finished The Way We Live Now, and I have yet to read an overseas novel, or indeed one with any Post Office business.

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    1. Thanks, Jane! I can't help noting the Post Office connections, now that I've spotted them. I think I'm going to read The Small House at Allington next - a longer book, but not as massive as The Way We Live Now.

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Thank you for taking the time to read, and to comment. I always enjoy hearing different points of view about the books I am reading, even if we disagree!