Can You Forgive Her?

Can You Forgive Her? initiates the series of six Palliser novels in which Anthony Trollope reached the height of his literary powers.

Here we are asked to pardon Alice Vavasour her 'offence against womanhood'. Alice has broken off her engagement with John Grey, her faultless fiancé, in order to marry her cousin George, the aggressive opportunist. Only he, she feels, can match her own spirit. According to the Victorian moral code, Alice must pay for her poor behaviour, but the reader forgives her, not because she has been punished and repents, but because we have a complete understanding of - and sympathy with - her motives.

So subtle and skilful is the author in conveying Alice's dilemma, and so urbane is his portrayal of the social and political world of contemporary London, that those who believe that Trollope's reputation rests on his novels of country life will be greatly surprised.