Sir Harry Hotspur of Humblethwaite (Unabridged) [Audio Download]

I don't know how anyone who has read a Trollope novel cannot want to read them all. While Sir Harry Hotspur is far from Trollope's greatest work, it is a pleasant reading experience. I always think of Trollope's novels as having a certain "sweetness and light" to them; however, in his often comic marriage knot tied novels, he is also very realistic. This novel is the tale of a less successful relationship, and one all the more interesting as a result.

The story is that of Sir Harry Hotspur and his wife. They are approaching old age, and their son, the heir to the property and name has died. They now only have one living child, their daughter Emily, and she needs to be married. Because the novel is set in England, Sir Harry's title will pass to his next male relative, a young cousin, George Hotspur, but Sir Harry will leave the property to his daughter. What Sir Harry would like more than anything is to keep the property and title together. His daughter agrees with him since she has fallen in love with her cousin, George. The plan for George to marry Emily, however, becomes complicated. As Emily falls deeper in love with George, Sir Harry finds out more and more that George is a "blackamoor", one who runs around with women and cheats at cards. Emily, however, remains determined to love and marry him. She is convinced she and her parents can reform George.

Is George reformable? I will not give away the end, but I will say the novel is realistic in its treatment of the relationship--Emily is ready to worship George as a god if he can only prove himself worthy of her, and George promises to change.

Sir Harry Hotspur of Humblethwaite was published in 1870, after Trollope's masterful series of Barset novels, and also while he was completing his second great series, The Palliser novels. Sir Harry Hotspur does not reach the standard of those twelve great books, but anyone who has read them will want to read further and continue in Mr. Trollope's pleasant company.

- Tyler R. Tichelaar, author of Iron Pioneers and The Queen City, available on Amazon

Anthony Trollope turns the tables on the usual "happy ending" in this intriguing novel and has his undaunted and faithful heroine fail miserably in bringing about the attempted reform of her disreputable husband-to-be. Sir Harry Hotspur is a wealthy baronet whose only surviving child, his daughter Emily, falls in love with her cousin George Hotspur. George is a scoundrel, though - a rogue and gambler and alcoholic swindler, all of which he admits to openly. However, Sir Harry's title will pass on to George if he and Emily should marry, as would his estates and property; it is for this continued union of title and estates that Sir Harry, out of his own pride, can't bring himself to forbid the marriage. But when the depth of George's depravity is made known to Sir Harry, he can't any longer give consent to Emily's marrying him. But the incredibly innocent and naïve Emily is convinced not only of her love for George, but of her ability to reform him. In the hands of any number of other novelists of the period that is exactly what would happen, but not in Trollope's. Harry, knowing his man, refuses to budge, and Emily, listening only to her heart, refuses to give up on him. When George finally dumps her and marries someone else, Emily dies.

The novel is simple, straight-forward, and compelling. Trollope is concerned with a couple of issues here, one being the "double standard" of the wretched male rogue being the object of Emily's compassion (no female character could ever survive a tenth of the dastardly behaviors exhibited by George). Another is Sir Harry's aristocratic pride at work in hoping to keep his title and property intact, although Trollope would never go so far as to have Sir Harry let Emily marry the blackguard just for that alone. The story moves along quickly and decidedly, and the downward spiral of events into utter sadness at the end is emotionally draining for the reader. One of Trollope's best short novels.

Written in 1870, when Trollope was at the height of his powers, Sir Harry Hotspur is a moving story of greed, courtship, and conflicting emotions. The story is simple. Harry Hotspur is immensely wealthy. He has lost his son, leaving him with just a daughter for as heir to his fortune. His daughter loves a low life cousin who wants her money. The financial troubles of the cousin, and the emotional conflict between father and daughter create the drama of this fine short novel.