Can You Forgive Her? (English Library) [Paperback]

"Trollope is wonderful, a major novelist, a joy." --P.D. James --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

With sympathy and care, Trollope observes the romances of two controversial heroines in the first of his Palliser novels --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Alice Vavasor cannot decide whether to marry her ambitious but violent cousin George or the upright and gentlemanly John Grey - and finds herself accepting and rejecting each of them in turn. Increasingly confused about her own feelings and unable to forgive herself for such vacillation, her situation is contrasted with that of her friend Lady Glencora - forced to marry the rising politician Plantagenet Palliser in order to prevent the worthless Burgo Fitzgerald from wasting her vast fortune. In asking his readers to pardon Alice for her transgression of the Victorian moral code, Trollope created a telling and wide-ranging account of the social world of his day.

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY D.J. TAYLOR

'Trollope is wonderful, a major novelist, a joy' P.D. James

Alice Vavasor should be married to the sensible, kindly John Grey. But despite what her respectable relations might think, Alice cannot quite reconcile herself to this fate. Once upon a time she was engaged to her wild cousin George, and now he stands in need of her money and, perhaps too, her good influence. Meanwhile Alice's friend Lady Glencora has married the rising politician Plantagenet Palliser, but is still pursued by Burgo Fitzgerald, the handsome rascal she loves.

In this hugely compelling novel,Trollope shows the two women struggling to reconcile heart, mind and moral code whilst enduring the stifling scrutiny of their contemporaries.

See also: The Way We Live Now

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Anthony Trollope (1815 - 1882) established a successful career in the Post Office whilst also writing over forty novels, plus short stories. He enjoyed considerable acclaim during his lifetime. He is best remembered for the Barsetshire Chronicles.

Stephen Wall has edited other works for Penguin Classics, including Bleak House, Little Dorrit and Great Expectations.