Frank Gresham needs to marry for money if he is to save his impoverished family estate. But he loves the doctor's penniless niece, and faces a terrible dilemma. Dr Thorne knows a secret that would resolve the difficulty, but pride and moral scruples prevent its telling. Trollope develops his story with customary subtlety and comic skill.

'Frank has but one duty before him. He must marry money.' The squire of Greshamsbury has fallen on hard times, and it is incumbent on his son Frank to make a good marriage. But Frank loves the doctor's niece, Mary Thorne, a girl with no money and mysterious parentage. He faces a terrible dilemma: should he save the estate, or marry the girl he loves? Mary, too, has to battle her feelings, knowing that marrying Frank would ruin his family and fly in the face of his mother's opposition. Her pride is matched by that of her uncle, Dr Thorne, who has to decide whether to reveal a secret that would resolve Frank's difficulty, or to uphold the innate merits of his own family heritage. The character of Dr Thorne reflects Trollope's own contradictory feelings about the value of tradition and the need for change. His subtle portrayal, and the comic skill and gentle satire with which the story is developed, are among the many pleasures of this delightful novel. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Powerfully lucid in its account of the subservience of the "exchange of young bodies" in this novel to the cause of the preservation of the Greshambury estate.

Autorentext
Simon Dentith is a former President of the British Association for Victorian Studies, and he has published widely on nineteenth-century topics. He is the editor of Trollope's Phineas Finn in Oxford World's Classics, and his books include Epic and Empire in Nineteenth-Century Britain (2006).