Trollope

Anthony Trollope (1815–1882), later known as Sir Anthony Trollope, was an English novelist whose realist fiction helped shape Victorian literature. He is best known for two major bodies of work: the Barsetshire series, which satirizes and scrutinizes social life in a rural cathedral town, and the Palliser novels, a cycle of political and social dramas centered on Parliament and public life. The Barsetshire books include The Warden, Barchester Towers, Doctor Thorne, Framley Parsonage, and The Small House at Allington, and are noted for their humane portrayal of clergy, gentry, and townspeople through interconnected plots.

Trollope was born in London to Frances Trollope and Thomas Trollope. He joined the General Post Office in 1834 and for roughly two decades combined his civil service duties with prolific writing. His early successes appeared in the 1840s, but his mature, highly productive period began in the 1850s and continued into the 1870s. The Palliser novels, among them Can You Forgive Her?, Phineas Finn, The Eustace Diamonds, Phineas Redux, and The Prime Minister, examine political life, ambition, marriage, and class, while The Way We Live Now surveys broader social corruption. Trollope’s prose is known for clarity, steady pace, and lucid social observation.

Knighted in 1871, Trollope remained a dominant figure in Victorian literature until his death in London in 1882. His work influenced many later English novelists and remains widely read for its panoramic, patient depictions of 19th-century English life.