Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Ayala's Angel, by Anthony Trollope

I have more books by Anthony Trollope on my shelves than any other author (though Patricia Wentworth is coming close). It has been a good while though since I picked up one of his books - looking at my reading diary, almost a year. The last one I tried to read shook my faith in one of my favorite authors. I had a bad feeling when the young heroine met the charming cad. I knew their marriage was a mistake, but I didn't expect a Trollope heroine to die of disappointed love  - and then to have her father die of grief in his turn was just a step too far. I am prepared for that with Charlotte M. Yonge, but not Mr. Trollope.

My negative reaction didn't stop me from adding a couple of Trollope books to the TBR shelves when I came across them (The Fixed Period and The Landleaguers). There are also far more Trollope books on the TBR shelves than any other author's. Finally deciding it was time to try another, I looked carefully over my stash, unwilling to risk another dreary tragedy. The back cover of my Oxford World's Classics edition of Ayala's Angel promised "A romantic comedy of implacable exuberance . . . the brightest and freshest of Trollope's novels." It more than lived up to that blurb, though I'm not sure I agree it's the brightest and freshest.

Ayala is one of two sisters left without a penny after their parents' death. Her rich aunt and uncle, the Tringles, take her into their home. The older sister Lucy makes her home with the poorer aunt and uncle, the Dossetts. But when the son and heir Tom Tringle falls madly in love with Ayala, she is banished to the Dossetts, while Lucy is welcomed to the Tringles' magnificence. I thought there was something of Sense and Sensibility about the two sisters.  Ayala certainly has all the romantic notions of Marianne, while Lucy has more of Elinor's sense and stability. But Trollope makes it clear that Ayala is the heroine of his story.

Much of the comedy in the story comes from the suffering of their rich uncle, the baronet and millionaire financier Sir Thomas Tringle. He has two daughters, as well as his son Tom. The elder daughter Augusta has just married the Hon. Septimus Traffic, a baron's son and Member of Parliament. Sir Thomas settled £120,000 on Augusta, which will give the couple a comfortable income. Mr. Traffic however has decided to save as much as possible by moving in with his new in-laws. I enjoyed Sir Thomas's increasingly irate efforts to turf the young man out, and his own daughter as well, while his son-in-law ignores his hints and even outright insults. Then there is the second daughter, Gertrude, who is determined to marry and expects her £120,000 in turn. However, her father is equally determined not to end up with another sponging son-in-law. At one point she is driven to elope to Ostend, under the mistaken idea that it's a continental Gretna Green where weddings are quickly and easily arranged. Poor Sir Thomas has to cope with the fallout of that escapade, after which he starts referring to Gertrude and her intended as "those two idiots." I sometimes thought he might have been happy to trade his daughters for his wards, who despite their own romantic tangles behave so much better.

This being a Trollope novel, there are of course several hunting scenes. The editor of this edition, Julian Thompson, notes that "The hunting-scenes in Ayala's Angel are as fresh as any, and, as R.C. Terry has pointed out, are remarkably free from nostalgia, despite the fact that Trollope had himself hunted for the last time." The notes also point out several connections in the hunts to The American Senator. It's been so long since I read that book that I didn't remember any of the cross-over characters.

I enjoyed this book very much. It reminded me of why Anthony Trollope is one of my favorite authors, even if every book of his isn't exactly to my taste. I am late for the Palliser Party that Jo Ann and Audrey have been hosting, but I am still in time for the next book, Phineas Redux. Though I'm thinking it's been too long since I last read The Eustace Diamonds.

11 comments:

  1. Ayala's Angel was one of the first Trollope novels I ever read and I remember thoroughly enjoying it. Which of his books involves the heroine and her father dying? I need to avoid that one! I started Phineas Redux a year or so ago but I think I had read too many Victorian novels recently and I ended up abandoning it. I am sure I will go back to it at some point. Of course, by then I will have forgotten what happened in the previous novels....

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    1. I'm always interested in which Trollope books people read first. I started with a combined edition of The Warden and Barchester Towers, and was hooked from the start. I think this one would be a good introduction.

      (spoiler alert)
      It's Sir Henry Hotspur of Humblethwaite - which from the title alone I expected to be funny.

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  2. I was shocked recently to see in my reading log that I have read this, because I don't remember it at all. Maybe it's because it was before I fell for Mr. T. But then again, I'm obviously overdue to re-read it!

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    1. I find my reading log so helpful, because I lose track of what I've read. And having my books on Library Thing has also helped me not buy multiple copies!

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  3. I still have never read a Trollope, but I own two of his books. Maybe I'll get to them in 2018. :)

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    1. When you're in the book for a good Victorian double-decker :)

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  4. I think I'll read this one soon although I have The American Senator on my classics list to read next.

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    1. I read The American Senator several years ago but I didn't remember the characters who pop up in this one. And the notes mentioned a couple of plot points that I had forgotten completely.

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  5. Years ago I was recommended this as a first Trollope, I ordered it from the library, but when it arrived it was tiny, the print was minuscule and so it went straight back. I wonder if my relationship with our beloved author would have been different if it had been a better copy. It sounds very typical, but maybe not quite a 'wow' ?

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    1. Was it one of the old blue-bound Oxford Classics, I wonder? I have Is He Popenjoy in that edition, but I'm not sure my eyes will be up to re-reading that small print.

      I wouldn't rank this with my favorites, though I did enjoy it.

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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!