The Macdermots of Ballycloran (Classic Reprint) [Paperback]

Anthony Trollope's first novel, and a good one. Set in Ireland in the 1830s, it tells the story of a proud but destitute family and their tragic downfall at the hands of a scoundrel. Myles Ussher is an English police captain sent to Ireland to help stop illegal whiskey making. Feemy Macdermot falls deeply in love with him, though he has no intention of returning that love. The locals hate him, and Feemy's brother Thady, when he learns of Ussher's merely using Feemy, kills him in a rage when he believes Ussher is abducting her against her will (they are actually eloping). A trial ensues and after some exciting intervals involving escapes, Thady is convicted and hanged.

Trollope offers a sympathetic look at Ireland's troubles during this time period; indeed the "innocent" Feemy might symbolically represent that country while the unfeeling, spiteful Ussher is England. Trollope had spent a good deal of time in Ireland and knew the country and the people well; his use of Irish dialogue is natural and realistic. The trial scene is pretty exciting, and Trollope's broad humor is already clearly evident. The use of the dilapidated Macdermot mansion as the starting and ending point, with the main plot sandwiched inbetween as flashback, gives the novel a cinematic touch. The author would achieve greater novels as his career progressed, but this initial production highlights an auspicious start.

Several years (and novels) before Trollope struck gold with THE WARDEN and the Barsetshire novels, he debuted with this account of a poverty stricken Irish landlord and his attempts to hold on to his estate and navigate the violent and seamy world or pre-famine Ireland. Thady Macdermot is the son of an Irish landowner who begins the novel trying to get payment from his various tenants and stave off a persistent creditor, while his mostly insane father increasingly accuses him of trying to sabotage his ownership of their estate, and his unsupervised young sister carries on a sexual liaison with a local police officer. As the story unfolds, we are introduced to several of the local tenants, who all have it in for this officer because of his constant raids on their illegal alcohol production, and are trying to enlist Thady's hesitant aid in "ridding the country of him." Meanwhile, a parish priest, Father John, is actively working to keep Thady on the righteous path, and trying also to figure out how to separate Thady's sister, Feemy, from the illicit affair she has fallen into. Eventually the many conflicts erupt into an act of murder, and the final third of the novel follows the trial of the guilty party, including an in-depth analysis of the legal ramifications, as Trollope so loved to unfold.

Down to its final grim death, the novel is one of squalor and depression. It is, however, to the author's great credit that even in dealing with such dark subject matter, he is able to infuse scenes of humor and liveliness throughout. If this is an impoverished people, they are still filled with life, and endeavor to live those lives and take joy in whatever they can. Be it a horse race, or the betting party preceding it - be it a local wedding - or just sitting on the porch imbibing illegal moonshine, these are characters as real as you and I. Trollope's great strength has always been in creating relatable characters with realistic dialogue, and his debut shows this was a natural talent!

His descriptions of the land, its people, its homes, and its lifestyles come alive, aided by his many years spent living among them. It is noted that Trollope has not here written an English novel about the Irish, but has in fact written an Irish novel. As such, readers of his tamer and more socially acceptable novels may be shocked by the language, sexual themes, and violence on display here (including murders, hangings, and one shocking and graphically described hobbling). These are not English dames and gentlemen working within social norms to achieve love or prosperity ... these are people of the earth, sweating, fighting, and scheming to survive each day - yet described with passion and affection.

The Worlds Classic edition features three deleted chapters, which help to elaborate on the legalities of the court case, and add a coda to the lives of the various characters. I found these interesting, but also felt they were wisely cut, particularly the final chapter - ending with the death, while tragic, has much more dramatic punch than tacking on a bunch of "here's what happened to this guy" narration.

The edition also features an introductory essay that explores a little more in-depth the larger political ramifications of the novel, detailing how the characters of Feemy and her policeman lover, Ussher, echo the plight between England and Ireland of the day - of course I cannot go into depth here without giving much away, but suffice to say the parallels are quite interesting.

In the end, have no doubt, this is a tragic novel - but Trollope's mastery of the Irish dialect and characterizations, as well as his trademark wit, make this vastly readable - quote an astonishing debut, even if the English readers of his day didn't appreciate it.

Trollope was an unpromising son in a rather mixed family: father a failure as a lawyer, mother a success as a novelist and travel writer, a brother also doing well as writer. Anthony didn't amount to much when he took an assignment to central Ireland for the British mail service, but he grew in stature there, started a successful postal career and wrote his first published novel, printed in 1847.

The novel did not yet establish him as a writer, but it was a start. Publishers may have liked the Macdermots, but the public didn't want to touch an Irish story. Too miserable, I guess. It dropped like a stone.

It is the story of an impoverished Irish landlord family doomed to end in disaster. They built a house on credit and spend the next decades between hopeless collection of rent from destitute farmers and warding off the claims from the builder and his lawyer. Education level and intelligence are less than mediocre. There is no single person among the main characters in the novel that the author honestly likes. That is always a drawback in the way of public success.

The family has a daughter who is in love with a Protestant police officer. That man is thoroughly unpopular as he puts people in jail for illegal distilling. He has no serious intentions with the Macdermot daughter. Trouble with her brother is unavoidable.
Brother and sister are the central persons, but we can't quite adopt them as our main interest, as they are too daft and helpless to gain our full sympathy.
A meddling priest tries to cool down the passions and to save his parish from dishonor and crime. He may be considered a hero of the novel. A social worker in the best sense, but not really efficient.

The strength of the novel lies in the details of its cast, despite the lack of true sympathy on the author's part, and in folkloristic scenes such as a horse race, a wedding, a duel, and sessions of the assizes. A weakness is a certain lack of drive with the story line. Mr. Trollope wasn't good yet at pacing himself properly. One might consider the main plot too thin to be drawn out so long.

I found this little mystery: the band plays 'The Wind that Shakes the Barley' at the wedding. The book was published in 1847, but written a few years earlier. The story is set in the 30s. The song was written by a man who was born in 1836, according to wiki. So either he was a child prodigy, or the 1866 book edition that is the basis for this kindle version introduced a nice anachronism. Or wiki made a mistake about the song's origin.

We are happy to know that Trollope went from here to the publication of uncounted successful novels, mostly set in England, and a few travel books.
His heart for Ireland was not entirely large enough to be fully endearing. He always seems to accuse the poor of poverty. He will say things like:
To be picturesque, poverty must be rural. Suburban misery is as hideous as it is pitiful. This was not warm love on behalf of AT, but maybe better some coolness than sugary sentiment.

And now I am ready for St.Patrick's Ball.