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Cousin Henry
Cousin Henry , first published in 1879, is perhaps the most unusual and intriguing of Trollope's shorter novels. Trollope's masterly handling of the novel's unlikely hero, a tiresome and timid coward, is notable for its insight and compassion.
336 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1879
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750 people want to read
About the author
Anthony Trollope
2,297 books1,764 followersAnthony Trollope became one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. Some of Trollope's best-loved works, known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, revolve around the imaginary county of Barsetshire; he also wrote penetrating novels on political, social, and gender issues and conflicts of his day.
Trollope has always been a popular novelist. Noted fans have included Sir Alec Guinness (who never travelled without a Trollope novel), former British Prime Ministers Harold Macmillan and Sir John Major, economist John Kenneth Galbraith, American novelists Sue Grafton and Dominick Dunne and soap opera writer Harding Lemay. Trollope's literary reputation dipped somewhat during the last years of his life, but he regained the esteem of critics by the mid-twentieth century.
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_...
Trollope has always been a popular novelist. Noted fans have included Sir Alec Guinness (who never travelled without a Trollope novel), former British Prime Ministers Harold Macmillan and Sir John Major, economist John Kenneth Galbraith, American novelists Sue Grafton and Dominick Dunne and soap opera writer Harding Lemay. Trollope's literary reputation dipped somewhat during the last years of his life, but he regained the esteem of critics by the mid-twentieth century.
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 140 reviews
June 16, 2019
Another great Anthony Trollope - rich and smart and complex. Probably a good one to start with as it's scope is less wide than some of his work. Highly recommended!
December 15, 2024
Surprisingly I enjoyed Cousin Henry. The plot revolves around guilt and a missing will and Henry’s trial and tribulations as to whether to make it known where the will is located. He is the heir from a previous will and the new missing will gives the estate to Isobel his cousin and the favorite of the uncle who dies.
Cousin Henry is hated by everybody as he is a weak character who vacillates between a fantasy of destroying the will or revealing its location and be seen as a good person. However, he sits day after day staring at the book of sermons where the will is hidden.
ApJohn the estates lawyer suspects that Henry knows their is another will as two tenants had witnessed the will before the uncle died. The nearby town also favors Isobel and the local newspaper publishes articles accusing Henry of destroying the will.
This novel is a psychological book examining the morals of both sides on who is in the right. There is a lot of repetition of Henry staring at the book and arguing with himself what is the right thing to do and ultimately it is taken out of his hands.
Cousin Henry is hated by everybody as he is a weak character who vacillates between a fantasy of destroying the will or revealing its location and be seen as a good person. However, he sits day after day staring at the book of sermons where the will is hidden.
ApJohn the estates lawyer suspects that Henry knows their is another will as two tenants had witnessed the will before the uncle died. The nearby town also favors Isobel and the local newspaper publishes articles accusing Henry of destroying the will.
This novel is a psychological book examining the morals of both sides on who is in the right. There is a lot of repetition of Henry staring at the book and arguing with himself what is the right thing to do and ultimately it is taken out of his hands.
April 9, 2015
Four years ago I started to read my first Trollope - 'Cousin Henry' - for a Classics Circuit tour. I didn't get on with the book, I didn't finish it, but I at least had the sense to write:
"I suspect that I may still come to love Trollope. I just need another time and another book."
When I saw the same book in the library again last month I thought it was time to try again, time to see if another time and the other books I've read would make all the difference.
I think they did; because this time I liked 'Cousin Henry', and this time I had to keep turning the pages until I reached the end of the book. It's a short book, and it moves along more quickly than any other Trollope I have read, but it is still distinctively and recognisably him.
The story opens on a country estate in Carmarthenshire. Indefer Jones, the owner of that estate was elderly, his health was failing, and he was contemplating his will.
He wanted to make his niece, Isabel Brodrick, his heir. She was his sister's daughter, and she Isabel had lived with her uncle for many years, since her mother had died and her father had remarried. There was a strong between uncle and niece; and Isabel loved the estate and was well liked by her uncle's staff and tenants. She was the perfect heir in all respects but one: she was a woman whose claim came from the female line.
Custom and convention said that Henry Jones, the son of Indefer Jones' younger brother should be his uncle's heir. Henry had run up debts, he had been sent down from Oxford, and he had found a job, of sorts in London. He didn't come near, and he didn't have the best of reputations.
The choice was intriguing, questioning the importance of primogeniture, and asking what roles a woman might play.
A marriage between Isabel and Henry was suggested, and it could have resolved their uncle's dilemma; Henry was willing, but Isabel was proud, she knew what was said of her cousin, and she dismissed the possibility out of hand.
Indefer Jones died and the will that was found in his desk showed that tradition had won the day. Henry Jones was the heir.
Isabel returned to the home of her father and step-mother, and Henry Jones took up residence in the manor house.
Friends and neighbours, staff and tenants, were all disappointed with the will. And rumours started to spread The story was that shortly before his death, Indefer Jones had asked two visiting tenant farmers to witness a new will. It hadn't been drawn up by his solicitor, but he told them that all would be well. He had copied the wording of an earlier will; all he had changed was the name ....
Cousin Henry knew that the story was true, because he had, purely by chance, found that will, in the library, tucked into a book of sermons his estate to Isabel. That was a great blow to a young man hoping for a new life. He couldn't quite bring himself to bring to destroy the will, and so he tucked it back into the book and said nothing.
He found that easy, but he found living with the guilt and the fear of discovery very, very difficult. And Cousin Henry found it very hard to dissemble, and, though none of them could prove it, Henry's manner, his actions, his responses to certain questions, convinced many people he was guilty.
Meanwhile, Isabel's pride lead her to reject the overtures that Cousin Henry made as a sop to his conscience, turn down the proposal of the young clergyman she loved because she was poor, and offer to go out and earn her own living rather than be a burden to her father.
The story worked so well because the characters of Isabel and Henry were so well drawn. They were both fallible; he was weak while she was strong; that was interested and it meant my sympathies were shared between the two, albeit unequally.
I couldn't say that that I liked either, but, as always with Trollope, I understood, I was involved, and I had to know how the story would play out.
The story is simple, it feels a little contrived in places, but as a psychological study - particularly of the effects of guilt - it's brilliant!
The story comes to a head when Carmarthen Herald publishes a series of articles accusing Henry of destroying the will, or at the very least having knowledge of its existence. The family solicitor tells Henry that he had no choice but to sue for libel, and he sets the wheels in motion.
But, as he observes Henry, his certainty that there is no libel grows.
I guessed the ending long before it happened, but it didn't matter. I enjoyed seeing the story play out.
Now I know that this was the wrong book four years ago, and it shouldn't be anyone's first Trollope, but when you have come to know and love him it is definitely worth reading.
"I suspect that I may still come to love Trollope. I just need another time and another book."
When I saw the same book in the library again last month I thought it was time to try again, time to see if another time and the other books I've read would make all the difference.
I think they did; because this time I liked 'Cousin Henry', and this time I had to keep turning the pages until I reached the end of the book. It's a short book, and it moves along more quickly than any other Trollope I have read, but it is still distinctively and recognisably him.
The story opens on a country estate in Carmarthenshire. Indefer Jones, the owner of that estate was elderly, his health was failing, and he was contemplating his will.
He wanted to make his niece, Isabel Brodrick, his heir. She was his sister's daughter, and she Isabel had lived with her uncle for many years, since her mother had died and her father had remarried. There was a strong between uncle and niece; and Isabel loved the estate and was well liked by her uncle's staff and tenants. She was the perfect heir in all respects but one: she was a woman whose claim came from the female line.
Custom and convention said that Henry Jones, the son of Indefer Jones' younger brother should be his uncle's heir. Henry had run up debts, he had been sent down from Oxford, and he had found a job, of sorts in London. He didn't come near, and he didn't have the best of reputations.
The choice was intriguing, questioning the importance of primogeniture, and asking what roles a woman might play.
A marriage between Isabel and Henry was suggested, and it could have resolved their uncle's dilemma; Henry was willing, but Isabel was proud, she knew what was said of her cousin, and she dismissed the possibility out of hand.
Indefer Jones died and the will that was found in his desk showed that tradition had won the day. Henry Jones was the heir.
Isabel returned to the home of her father and step-mother, and Henry Jones took up residence in the manor house.
Friends and neighbours, staff and tenants, were all disappointed with the will. And rumours started to spread The story was that shortly before his death, Indefer Jones had asked two visiting tenant farmers to witness a new will. It hadn't been drawn up by his solicitor, but he told them that all would be well. He had copied the wording of an earlier will; all he had changed was the name ....
Cousin Henry knew that the story was true, because he had, purely by chance, found that will, in the library, tucked into a book of sermons his estate to Isabel. That was a great blow to a young man hoping for a new life. He couldn't quite bring himself to bring to destroy the will, and so he tucked it back into the book and said nothing.
He found that easy, but he found living with the guilt and the fear of discovery very, very difficult. And Cousin Henry found it very hard to dissemble, and, though none of them could prove it, Henry's manner, his actions, his responses to certain questions, convinced many people he was guilty.
Meanwhile, Isabel's pride lead her to reject the overtures that Cousin Henry made as a sop to his conscience, turn down the proposal of the young clergyman she loved because she was poor, and offer to go out and earn her own living rather than be a burden to her father.
The story worked so well because the characters of Isabel and Henry were so well drawn. They were both fallible; he was weak while she was strong; that was interested and it meant my sympathies were shared between the two, albeit unequally.
I couldn't say that that I liked either, but, as always with Trollope, I understood, I was involved, and I had to know how the story would play out.
The story is simple, it feels a little contrived in places, but as a psychological study - particularly of the effects of guilt - it's brilliant!
The story comes to a head when Carmarthen Herald publishes a series of articles accusing Henry of destroying the will, or at the very least having knowledge of its existence. The family solicitor tells Henry that he had no choice but to sue for libel, and he sets the wheels in motion.
But, as he observes Henry, his certainty that there is no libel grows.
I guessed the ending long before it happened, but it didn't matter. I enjoyed seeing the story play out.
Now I know that this was the wrong book four years ago, and it shouldn't be anyone's first Trollope, but when you have come to know and love him it is definitely worth reading.
February 7, 2023
“For the man himself, the reader, it is hoped, will feel some compassion.”
The man is the eponymous Cousin Henry, although the family lawyer Mr. Apjohn would hardly call him a man but rather a “reptile”, a “dog”, a “wretched, thieving miscreant”, a “miserable creature” and someone who cries “like a woman”. Henry’s cousin Isabel Brodrick looks down on Henry as cringing and unmanly from the first minute she claps eyes on him – probably because when years ago they met, Cousin Henry came over as shifty and dishonest for some reason, and probably also because her uncle Indefer Jones made it clear that he was not too keenly inclined towards Henry. Actually, even the servants look down on Cousin Henry with that sense of moral superiority which has been, through all ages, the hallmark, and the source of pride, of all unimaginative, petty-minded people.
So, why should we pity him? After all, when his uncle dies, he puts a volume of sermons back into its shelf in the domestic library, knowing well that his ancestor has put his last of several wills into its pages, a will that bequeaths the estate of Llanfeare to Isabel, and he tries to whitewash himself in his own eyes by saying that after all, he did not hide the will but just put a book in its proper place. Can he be right because, after all, the best place for a volume of sermons might be a bookshelf? Having gone so far, Cousin Henry lacks the courage, determination or cold-bloodedness to go one step further and destroy the will in question, which would make himself the proprietor of Llanfeare once and for all but also constitute an act of downright felony, laying him open to both legal prosecution – in case he’d ever be found out – and eternal damnation by a Higher Judge. Of course, anyone with an intact sense of ethics will come to the conclusion that it boils down to the same thing if you tell a flat lie and destroy a will, or if you tell a lie by omission and hide the information that a dying man had a certain book next to his bedside by putting that book back into its shelf – and so, Cousin Henry can be called a crook.
Still, in order to understand the man’s motivations a bit better, one might also consider the following facts: Uncle Indefer was not driven to make Henry his heir by a feeling of benevolence nor a conviction of the man’s worthiness in the first place but by his whim of making his next male kinsperson enter into the estate. He asked Henry to come to Llanfeare with a view of making him his heir, expecting the young man to take up new responsibilities and leave his old position as an insurance clerk in London, while Henry never asked him to do this. Nevertheless, he never welcomed him with any warmth but on the contrary made him feel like a wet blanket from the word go, thus putting all the servants and tenants against him. At the same time, he expected Henry to marry Isabel so that his beloved niece should be provided for despite his decision against her as a direct heiress, thus putting Henry under the obligation of proposing to a woman whom Henry does not care for and who looks down on Henry and does not take the slightest trouble to gloss over her aversion with the help of the most elementary rules of politeness. On the contrary, one of the few pleasures of our hidebound friend Isabel is to offend Henry and call him “odious” to his face.
So, after all, even if we may not condone Henry’s spontaneous decision to hide the will, we can probably understand it. And we can also be expected to take some interest in the ensuing mental ordeal Henry is going to experience, an ordeal which is fed by fears of being found out and by still stronger fears of committing the crime of destroying the will – a crime which is demanded by the interior logic of his first dishonest act. There are also other feelings that plunge Henry into a maelstrom of torment – such as his understandable bitterness against Isabel, who insulted and humiliated him, his lust for the luxuries that would go with his new position as a lord of the manor and his thirst for revenge against all those who would like to oust him from the property just because they dislike him and like Isabel so much better but who find their hands bound as long as there is no later will than the one that favours Cousin Henry.
Trollope’s novel Cousin Henry is outstanding in many ways: First of all, it is not one of your typical two-volume Victorian novels, but a rather short work that can be read in three or four hours and it mainly concentrates on the dilemma its eponymous hero has brought upon himself by an act of dishonesty that was easy to commit because it consisted simply in putting a book into its proper place and telling himself that it is the responsibilities of others to find the last will – an act that cannot be justified but that can, in certain ways, be understood. What makes the matter even more interesting for the reader is the fact that the person who commits this dubious deed is not a downright villain who is determined to follow through with his course of action but a dithering, insecure young man, whose motives for desisting from taking the last step, lie not so much in noble considerations but more in the fear of making himself accountable to the law and taking a risk. He is spiteful against Isabel and Mr. Apjohn – and the arrogance of both of these makes his feeling of spite quite understandable – but he also shies away from doing anything indubitably illegal. In short, like many of us, he wants to have his cake and eat it.
The conflict at the centre of Cousin Henry might therefore be a rather unusual one, but the human motivations and the inner strife it leads to in the mind of Cousin Henry are certainly thoughts and feelings that most readers could easily experience in their everyday lives, and Trollope succeeds brilliantly in having us partake in them through most of the memorable passages of the book – even though Cousin Henry’s musings are sometimes quite repetitive and also gruelling in their tendency to stagnate and to chew but never swallow the cud in order to buy one more day’s time of being able to deliver the will and wash his hands of his first ignoble act. But then, as you might have guessed, this kind of gruelling repetitiveness is just what is both tormenting to young Henry and characteristic of his weakness. So even though one may say that in some of his other novels, Trollope sometimes does overstretch a point by repeating basically the same thoughts going through a character’s head, in this case, doing so is a clever stylistic device – apart from that, Trollope’s ability to create believable characters makes his bouts of introspection both fascinating and instructive. He even has wimpy Henry ponder suicide – the Lord surely will understand his predicament, Henry muses, and not condemn him – but eventually turn down that option when he realizes that by jumping off that cliff, his body will not necessarily be devoured by the waves of the sea but be more likely to be shattered on the cliffs, and that is just not Henry’s cup of tea.
To make matters even more intricate and compelling, Trollope does not present Henry’s antagonists in a more likeable light. Quite on the contrary, Isabel is a holier-than-thou would-be martyr, as long as martyrdom comes with a touch of sermon-book-like misery and not with the everyday drudgery of just settling down to an ordinary life, and she thinks herself head and shoulders above her petty-minded stepmother, who feels bad about the additional burden that Isabel’s presence puts on Mr. Brodrick’s strained purse. Lawyer Apjohn, meanwhile, plays a duplicitous game by not shrinking from morally blackmailing his new client Henry and pressing him into a lawsuit. On the whole, it is quite fascinating that a book that is mainly peopled with disagreeable characters can keep a reader so intrigued as Cousin Henry does.
Anthony Trollope is definitely a master of characterization, and Cousin Henry, although much shorter than the novels Trollope is famous for, really shows the author as a master-psychologist.
The man is the eponymous Cousin Henry, although the family lawyer Mr. Apjohn would hardly call him a man but rather a “reptile”, a “dog”, a “wretched, thieving miscreant”, a “miserable creature” and someone who cries “like a woman”. Henry’s cousin Isabel Brodrick looks down on Henry as cringing and unmanly from the first minute she claps eyes on him – probably because when years ago they met, Cousin Henry came over as shifty and dishonest for some reason, and probably also because her uncle Indefer Jones made it clear that he was not too keenly inclined towards Henry. Actually, even the servants look down on Cousin Henry with that sense of moral superiority which has been, through all ages, the hallmark, and the source of pride, of all unimaginative, petty-minded people.
So, why should we pity him? After all, when his uncle dies, he puts a volume of sermons back into its shelf in the domestic library, knowing well that his ancestor has put his last of several wills into its pages, a will that bequeaths the estate of Llanfeare to Isabel, and he tries to whitewash himself in his own eyes by saying that after all, he did not hide the will but just put a book in its proper place. Can he be right because, after all, the best place for a volume of sermons might be a bookshelf? Having gone so far, Cousin Henry lacks the courage, determination or cold-bloodedness to go one step further and destroy the will in question, which would make himself the proprietor of Llanfeare once and for all but also constitute an act of downright felony, laying him open to both legal prosecution – in case he’d ever be found out – and eternal damnation by a Higher Judge. Of course, anyone with an intact sense of ethics will come to the conclusion that it boils down to the same thing if you tell a flat lie and destroy a will, or if you tell a lie by omission and hide the information that a dying man had a certain book next to his bedside by putting that book back into its shelf – and so, Cousin Henry can be called a crook.
Still, in order to understand the man’s motivations a bit better, one might also consider the following facts: Uncle Indefer was not driven to make Henry his heir by a feeling of benevolence nor a conviction of the man’s worthiness in the first place but by his whim of making his next male kinsperson enter into the estate. He asked Henry to come to Llanfeare with a view of making him his heir, expecting the young man to take up new responsibilities and leave his old position as an insurance clerk in London, while Henry never asked him to do this. Nevertheless, he never welcomed him with any warmth but on the contrary made him feel like a wet blanket from the word go, thus putting all the servants and tenants against him. At the same time, he expected Henry to marry Isabel so that his beloved niece should be provided for despite his decision against her as a direct heiress, thus putting Henry under the obligation of proposing to a woman whom Henry does not care for and who looks down on Henry and does not take the slightest trouble to gloss over her aversion with the help of the most elementary rules of politeness. On the contrary, one of the few pleasures of our hidebound friend Isabel is to offend Henry and call him “odious” to his face.
So, after all, even if we may not condone Henry’s spontaneous decision to hide the will, we can probably understand it. And we can also be expected to take some interest in the ensuing mental ordeal Henry is going to experience, an ordeal which is fed by fears of being found out and by still stronger fears of committing the crime of destroying the will – a crime which is demanded by the interior logic of his first dishonest act. There are also other feelings that plunge Henry into a maelstrom of torment – such as his understandable bitterness against Isabel, who insulted and humiliated him, his lust for the luxuries that would go with his new position as a lord of the manor and his thirst for revenge against all those who would like to oust him from the property just because they dislike him and like Isabel so much better but who find their hands bound as long as there is no later will than the one that favours Cousin Henry.
Trollope’s novel Cousin Henry is outstanding in many ways: First of all, it is not one of your typical two-volume Victorian novels, but a rather short work that can be read in three or four hours and it mainly concentrates on the dilemma its eponymous hero has brought upon himself by an act of dishonesty that was easy to commit because it consisted simply in putting a book into its proper place and telling himself that it is the responsibilities of others to find the last will – an act that cannot be justified but that can, in certain ways, be understood. What makes the matter even more interesting for the reader is the fact that the person who commits this dubious deed is not a downright villain who is determined to follow through with his course of action but a dithering, insecure young man, whose motives for desisting from taking the last step, lie not so much in noble considerations but more in the fear of making himself accountable to the law and taking a risk. He is spiteful against Isabel and Mr. Apjohn – and the arrogance of both of these makes his feeling of spite quite understandable – but he also shies away from doing anything indubitably illegal. In short, like many of us, he wants to have his cake and eat it.
The conflict at the centre of Cousin Henry might therefore be a rather unusual one, but the human motivations and the inner strife it leads to in the mind of Cousin Henry are certainly thoughts and feelings that most readers could easily experience in their everyday lives, and Trollope succeeds brilliantly in having us partake in them through most of the memorable passages of the book – even though Cousin Henry’s musings are sometimes quite repetitive and also gruelling in their tendency to stagnate and to chew but never swallow the cud in order to buy one more day’s time of being able to deliver the will and wash his hands of his first ignoble act. But then, as you might have guessed, this kind of gruelling repetitiveness is just what is both tormenting to young Henry and characteristic of his weakness. So even though one may say that in some of his other novels, Trollope sometimes does overstretch a point by repeating basically the same thoughts going through a character’s head, in this case, doing so is a clever stylistic device – apart from that, Trollope’s ability to create believable characters makes his bouts of introspection both fascinating and instructive. He even has wimpy Henry ponder suicide – the Lord surely will understand his predicament, Henry muses, and not condemn him – but eventually turn down that option when he realizes that by jumping off that cliff, his body will not necessarily be devoured by the waves of the sea but be more likely to be shattered on the cliffs, and that is just not Henry’s cup of tea.
To make matters even more intricate and compelling, Trollope does not present Henry’s antagonists in a more likeable light. Quite on the contrary, Isabel is a holier-than-thou would-be martyr, as long as martyrdom comes with a touch of sermon-book-like misery and not with the everyday drudgery of just settling down to an ordinary life, and she thinks herself head and shoulders above her petty-minded stepmother, who feels bad about the additional burden that Isabel’s presence puts on Mr. Brodrick’s strained purse. Lawyer Apjohn, meanwhile, plays a duplicitous game by not shrinking from morally blackmailing his new client Henry and pressing him into a lawsuit. On the whole, it is quite fascinating that a book that is mainly peopled with disagreeable characters can keep a reader so intrigued as Cousin Henry does.
Anthony Trollope is definitely a master of characterization, and Cousin Henry, although much shorter than the novels Trollope is famous for, really shows the author as a master-psychologist.
November 23, 2021
Henry, Henry, Henry, what are you DOING to yourself?
This is a very clever book. The story is very simple and we are told the whole plot within a few short chapters (plot spoilers coming):
An old man tries to do ‘the right thing’ but is riven by doubts. He makes a new will, invites his nephew (Cousin Henry) to his house to take over the estate after his anticipated death, then decides this is a mistake, as he really doesn’t like him, and writes another will on his death bed leaving everything to his niece, Isabel, who was his original intended beneficiary. Unfortunately he does not tell his solicitor he has done this and the will is somewhere in the house.
No-one else likes Cousin Henry either, not because he is evil or nasty or has bad habits but simply that he doesn’t have much of a personality, is uncomfortable in company and is unsure of himself, so not endearing himself to his cousin Isabel, the servants of the big house or his prospective tenants farming the land he is to inherit – or WAS to inherit, should the new will be discovered.
Well, guess what? The will cannot be found, so the estate goes to Cousin Henry after all, though the family solicitor and everyone else suspects he may have had a hand in its disappearance. In fact he has not hidden it, has not destroyed it but he does accidentally discover its whereabouts after the previous will has been read.
The remainder of the story mostly concerns Cousin Henry’s mental torture as he tries to work out what to do for the best. The man is not evil and is generally honest – he has a strong sense of conscience and knows what he should do. He also knows, however, that he only has to burn the will to become the unquestionable master of the estate at the expense of his cousin Isabel, who has told him she despises him. Who among us would not at least be tempted to keep the lot in the face of a hostile reception after being summoned from London to Wales by the old man with the express intention of leaving us the estate and then changing his mind because we are displeasing to him?
Meanwhile, his cousin Isabel, the erstwhile (and now potential) beneficiary takes a holier-than-thou attitude and leaves to live with her father and step mother, having first told Cousin Henry what she thinks of him, which isn’t much.
Cousin Henry agonises over this dilemma and thanks to Trollope’s clear understanding of human nature and marvellous ability to express this is extreme detail, we are treated to a real study in the psychological torture that this man forces himself to endure, while all those around him exude hostility and scorn, undermining his confidence still more, which only increases his resentment, reduces his capacity for rational thought and his desire to reveal the offending document, despite his basic honesty and better judgement.
Cousin Henry decides that he will ‘find’ the document and give it up, thereby losing the estate to Isabel and becoming a sort of hero in his humility and honesty in the eyes of those who have been denigrating him since his arrival. Then he can go back to London with his head held high, though poorer. But no! why give up the prestige of owning an estate, not to mention the enormous income it will provide, to those who hate him and on the strength of a document that he could so easily dispose of? Back and forth, various arguments and justifications assault his mind, which he is gradually losing over this awful predicament he is not responsible for creating but is prolonging by his procrastination and indecision. He is so mixed up and incapable of taking positive action that he thinks it might be better to fling himself from the high Welsh cliffs into the rocky sea below, but he knows that he has not the strength of character to do that either.
Trollope has written a gem here. We feel Cousin Henry’s pain while at the same time disliking him for his failings. As someone who suffers from self-doubt, I sympathise with him more than many, I suspect, who ‘do not suffer fools gladly’. No loathing is more painful than self-loathing but when others reinforce these feelings through unkindness and harsh judgement, even self-doubters can rise temporarily to the occasion and fight back, only later perhaps regretting the missed opportunity to change their course by coming clean. None of us wants to have honesty forced out of us but would prefer to make the decision and retain our dignity.
I shall not reveal the conclusion but I can assure you this is a worthy read and one that will have you agonising over Henry’s situation, even while you may be shouting at the book to make him make a decision one way or the other!
This is a Victorian novel, of course, and younger readers not too familiar with our history may feel frustrated with the plot; the old man’s reason for changing his will in favour of Henry at Isabel’s expense at the beginning of the story seems ridiculous by modern standards. The sense of gentility, good manners and public display of morals – the need to be seen to do the right thing, all adds to the pathos and premise of the story.
I have not read much Trollope, though I have a set of about seven Folio Society editions, so I will be reading more of this clever author, who with Cousin Henry has given us a lesson in how to get into someone’s head and reveal his deepest fears, resentments, hopes and desires.
Five stars.
This is a very clever book. The story is very simple and we are told the whole plot within a few short chapters (plot spoilers coming):
An old man tries to do ‘the right thing’ but is riven by doubts. He makes a new will, invites his nephew (Cousin Henry) to his house to take over the estate after his anticipated death, then decides this is a mistake, as he really doesn’t like him, and writes another will on his death bed leaving everything to his niece, Isabel, who was his original intended beneficiary. Unfortunately he does not tell his solicitor he has done this and the will is somewhere in the house.
No-one else likes Cousin Henry either, not because he is evil or nasty or has bad habits but simply that he doesn’t have much of a personality, is uncomfortable in company and is unsure of himself, so not endearing himself to his cousin Isabel, the servants of the big house or his prospective tenants farming the land he is to inherit – or WAS to inherit, should the new will be discovered.
Well, guess what? The will cannot be found, so the estate goes to Cousin Henry after all, though the family solicitor and everyone else suspects he may have had a hand in its disappearance. In fact he has not hidden it, has not destroyed it but he does accidentally discover its whereabouts after the previous will has been read.
The remainder of the story mostly concerns Cousin Henry’s mental torture as he tries to work out what to do for the best. The man is not evil and is generally honest – he has a strong sense of conscience and knows what he should do. He also knows, however, that he only has to burn the will to become the unquestionable master of the estate at the expense of his cousin Isabel, who has told him she despises him. Who among us would not at least be tempted to keep the lot in the face of a hostile reception after being summoned from London to Wales by the old man with the express intention of leaving us the estate and then changing his mind because we are displeasing to him?
Meanwhile, his cousin Isabel, the erstwhile (and now potential) beneficiary takes a holier-than-thou attitude and leaves to live with her father and step mother, having first told Cousin Henry what she thinks of him, which isn’t much.
Cousin Henry agonises over this dilemma and thanks to Trollope’s clear understanding of human nature and marvellous ability to express this is extreme detail, we are treated to a real study in the psychological torture that this man forces himself to endure, while all those around him exude hostility and scorn, undermining his confidence still more, which only increases his resentment, reduces his capacity for rational thought and his desire to reveal the offending document, despite his basic honesty and better judgement.
Cousin Henry decides that he will ‘find’ the document and give it up, thereby losing the estate to Isabel and becoming a sort of hero in his humility and honesty in the eyes of those who have been denigrating him since his arrival. Then he can go back to London with his head held high, though poorer. But no! why give up the prestige of owning an estate, not to mention the enormous income it will provide, to those who hate him and on the strength of a document that he could so easily dispose of? Back and forth, various arguments and justifications assault his mind, which he is gradually losing over this awful predicament he is not responsible for creating but is prolonging by his procrastination and indecision. He is so mixed up and incapable of taking positive action that he thinks it might be better to fling himself from the high Welsh cliffs into the rocky sea below, but he knows that he has not the strength of character to do that either.
Trollope has written a gem here. We feel Cousin Henry’s pain while at the same time disliking him for his failings. As someone who suffers from self-doubt, I sympathise with him more than many, I suspect, who ‘do not suffer fools gladly’. No loathing is more painful than self-loathing but when others reinforce these feelings through unkindness and harsh judgement, even self-doubters can rise temporarily to the occasion and fight back, only later perhaps regretting the missed opportunity to change their course by coming clean. None of us wants to have honesty forced out of us but would prefer to make the decision and retain our dignity.
I shall not reveal the conclusion but I can assure you this is a worthy read and one that will have you agonising over Henry’s situation, even while you may be shouting at the book to make him make a decision one way or the other!
This is a Victorian novel, of course, and younger readers not too familiar with our history may feel frustrated with the plot; the old man’s reason for changing his will in favour of Henry at Isabel’s expense at the beginning of the story seems ridiculous by modern standards. The sense of gentility, good manners and public display of morals – the need to be seen to do the right thing, all adds to the pathos and premise of the story.
I have not read much Trollope, though I have a set of about seven Folio Society editions, so I will be reading more of this clever author, who with Cousin Henry has given us a lesson in how to get into someone’s head and reveal his deepest fears, resentments, hopes and desires.
Five stars.
April 17, 2025
1.0 Stars. This was one of the most tedious, yet irksomely annoying books I have ever read. I’ll be brief, because I want to throw this book in a box and forget it ever existed as quickly as possible.
1. There is not a single character in this book that I even remotely like. All of them are either wishy-washy old coots, whining cowards, virtual signaling faux martyrs, or lawyers who deserve to be disbarred.
2. This entire 250+ page book could have been an email. It was made into a book by revisiting the same TINY patch of ground over and over and over and over and over and.. you get the idea. Sweet Jebus! Land the frikkin PLANE already and put us out of our misery. The last chapters were like agony because the torture was almost over, yet was relentlessly continuing for no useful purpose that I could ascertain. I was honestly ready to run out in traffic.
Thank goodness this book is over. I would have DNFed by about chapter 6, but was reading with a group so soldiered on to the tedious and annoying bitter end.
Unsatisfactory reading experience. Would not recommend.
1. There is not a single character in this book that I even remotely like. All of them are either wishy-washy old coots, whining cowards, virtual signaling faux martyrs, or lawyers who deserve to be disbarred.
2. This entire 250+ page book could have been an email. It was made into a book by revisiting the same TINY patch of ground over and over and over and over and over and.. you get the idea. Sweet Jebus! Land the frikkin PLANE already and put us out of our misery. The last chapters were like agony because the torture was almost over, yet was relentlessly continuing for no useful purpose that I could ascertain. I was honestly ready to run out in traffic.
Thank goodness this book is over. I would have DNFed by about chapter 6, but was reading with a group so soldiered on to the tedious and annoying bitter end.
Unsatisfactory reading experience. Would not recommend.
April 10, 2024
OMG! I think I am actually addicted to Anthony Trollope at the moment, can't get enough of him. His writing is superb, eloquent and simply brilliant! Cousin Henry is an in depth view of morality and the constant internal fight of Cousin Henry between good and evil when he is put in a morally questionable position. There is so much suspense in this novel, that it quickly became a page turner that I couldn't put down.
November 24, 2021
Horrible book not recommended for anyone. I didn't like anyone but especially disliked Isabel and her old servants. The whole lot were "stuck in the mire" and could not conceive of a new thought. They all stuck together in an unreal way but I guess small towns are much this way. Poor Henry as he turned out to be the victim and I could sure understand why he was glad to be rid of that horrible estate. It was very sad that he thought it was left to him in the first place. The uncle was a monster but probably demented so that was his excuse. What excuse does Isabel have? The only person who seemed to be half decent was Isabel's father. At the end they all brag on each other about how wonderful they all are which is typical for these type of people.
My advice is don't read it. I kept thinking there might be a fascinating twist but there isn't one. Also, Anthony Trollope repeats himself over and over. In the future I will avoid these backward books.
My advice is don't read it. I kept thinking there might be a fascinating twist but there isn't one. Also, Anthony Trollope repeats himself over and over. In the future I will avoid these backward books.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 25, 2025
Hideous! Malodorous! Vile! It roused me to murder! It "made me spit cotton" as my mother used to say when she was angrily flabbergasted. The two main characters reminded me so much of myself. I loathe that part of me which endlessly ruminates on myself and, what one therapist called, "exquisite dilemmas": seemingly unsolvable quandaries. "If only I...." "If only she...." If only a bomb would fall on Cousin Henry! I solely finished reading this to help my 2022 Reading Challenge.
April 1, 2021
Esta historia arranca con el tío Indefer y su preocupación por morir pronto, sin saber si dejará sus propiedades y bienes a su querida y favorita sobrina Isabel o a su detestable y nada querido sobrino Henry. Lo que lo hace dudar, ante una decisión que a simple vista parece ser sencilla, es una tradición inglesa que dice que todo lo heredado deberá pasar al primogénito varón de la familia. Bajo esta premisa, Trollope presenta una obra donde el último testamento de un hombre traerá incertidumbres, difamaciones, falsedades y hasta llevarnos a la mente de un individuo que se va afligiendo poco a poco.
De entrada, me gustó la manera de escribir del autor ya que la narrativa es muy fluida, además de que la trama no se detiene tanto en describir el entorno, sino que va directamente a los hechos y con una buena cantidad de diálogos; diría que con excepción del medio de la obra, donde la historia se hace un poco lenta a mi parecer.
La crítica que hace sobre esa antigua costumbre de heredar los bienes al primogénito varón está muy bien desarrollada en el principio de la novela, y se representa en los pensamientos y reflexiones del tío Indefer. Por otro lado, dos de los personajes, Isabel y Henry, me parecen bien construidos y cada uno diferenciado con su propia personalidad. Aunque debo admitirlo, Isabel se me hizo muy insoportable y para nada sensata, muy orgullosa y altamente insufrible; si la intención del autor era que se empatizara con ella por su situación, fue equivocada la manera de hacerlo. En cambio, con Henry me pasó que logré entenderlo más hasta cierto punto y resultó ser de los pocos personajes que me agradaron.
En general, quedé satisfecho con mi primer acercamiento a este autor y fue una buena experiencia haberlo leído.
De entrada, me gustó la manera de escribir del autor ya que la narrativa es muy fluida, además de que la trama no se detiene tanto en describir el entorno, sino que va directamente a los hechos y con una buena cantidad de diálogos; diría que con excepción del medio de la obra, donde la historia se hace un poco lenta a mi parecer.
La crítica que hace sobre esa antigua costumbre de heredar los bienes al primogénito varón está muy bien desarrollada en el principio de la novela, y se representa en los pensamientos y reflexiones del tío Indefer. Por otro lado, dos de los personajes, Isabel y Henry, me parecen bien construidos y cada uno diferenciado con su propia personalidad. Aunque debo admitirlo, Isabel se me hizo muy insoportable y para nada sensata, muy orgullosa y altamente insufrible; si la intención del autor era que se empatizara con ella por su situación, fue equivocada la manera de hacerlo. En cambio, con Henry me pasó que logré entenderlo más hasta cierto punto y resultó ser de los pocos personajes que me agradaron.
En general, quedé satisfecho con mi primer acercamiento a este autor y fue una buena experiencia haberlo leído.
March 17, 2025
Questo romanzo mi ha davvero stupita.
Senza entrare troppo nei dettagli della trama, che è belloscoprire via via leggendo, la storia di base è quella di un testamento e si rimane col fiato sospeso fino alla fine per scoprire chi erediterà la tenuta tanto ambita. E' appassionante e divertente, i tipi umani sono verosimili.
Ma è soprattutto la scelta dei due protagonisti ad essere modernissima davvero oltre le aspettative. Il "cattivo" della storia non è una rappresentazione del male assoluto: è un individuo comune: gretto, meschino, pavido, ma anche dilaniato dalla sua morale interiore se dovesse commettere un peccato irreparabile. D'altro canto, l'eroina del romanzo pure non è la bontà personificata: è orgogliosa, testarda, spesso più attenta alla forma che alla sostanza anche oltre le convenzioni del suo tempo.
Ho ritrovato qui alcuni temi presenti anche ne L'amministratore, in particolare il dilemma tra preferire un privilegio o l'onestà e la forza anche crudele dell'opinione pubblica nei confronti del presunto usurpatore.
Notevole è lo scavo psicologico soprattutto del cugino Henry, che pur essendo il "cattivo" della storia non è poi tanto peggio di tante persone comuni e ci si domanda spesso se - al suo posto - noi ci saremmo comportati poi tanto meglio. Anche l'autore lo tratta con una certa benevolenza (anzi, ce lo dice in maniera fin troppo esplicita) e qui ho trovato un salto davvero in avanti rispetto ai romanzi dei suoi famosi amici contemporanei.
Senza entrare troppo nei dettagli della trama, che è belloscoprire via via leggendo, la storia di base è quella di un testamento e si rimane col fiato sospeso fino alla fine per scoprire chi erediterà la tenuta tanto ambita. E' appassionante e divertente, i tipi umani sono verosimili.
Ma è soprattutto la scelta dei due protagonisti ad essere modernissima davvero oltre le aspettative. Il "cattivo" della storia non è una rappresentazione del male assoluto: è un individuo comune: gretto, meschino, pavido, ma anche dilaniato dalla sua morale interiore se dovesse commettere un peccato irreparabile. D'altro canto, l'eroina del romanzo pure non è la bontà personificata: è orgogliosa, testarda, spesso più attenta alla forma che alla sostanza anche oltre le convenzioni del suo tempo.
Ho ritrovato qui alcuni temi presenti anche ne L'amministratore, in particolare il dilemma tra preferire un privilegio o l'onestà e la forza anche crudele dell'opinione pubblica nei confronti del presunto usurpatore.
Notevole è lo scavo psicologico soprattutto del cugino Henry, che pur essendo il "cattivo" della storia non è poi tanto peggio di tante persone comuni e ci si domanda spesso se - al suo posto - noi ci saremmo comportati poi tanto meglio. Anche l'autore lo tratta con una certa benevolenza (anzi, ce lo dice in maniera fin troppo esplicita) e qui ho trovato un salto davvero in avanti rispetto ai romanzi dei suoi famosi amici contemporanei.
April 13, 2021
Very readable and enjoyable.
April 20, 2025
Not your typical Trollope novel, but a fascinating character study. It’s quite short and nearly laser-focused on the titular character, Henry, as he works up the courage to destroy evidence, come clean, or leave it hidden with the potential for exposure at a later time.
I enjoyed it for what it is. It does not have the usual interwoven plot and well-developed collection of characters than one expects from Anthony Trollope. But as a character study, it is top notch.
I enjoyed it for what it is. It does not have the usual interwoven plot and well-developed collection of characters than one expects from Anthony Trollope. But as a character study, it is top notch.
August 15, 2017
A study in obstinacy, guilt, and detection. Trollope does all well. This is not his best novel, but it is a good one.
November 24, 2017
This may be the first Trollope I have read that I found to be really ho-hum. It lacked the depth of his other books in terms of both plot and character. Frankly, it probably deserved 2-stars but I couldn't bring myself to give Trollope anything fewer than 3.
May 29, 2018
Accolto positivamente dalla critica quando venne pubblicato per la prima volta nel 1879 (pochi anni prima della morte di Trollope), Il cugino Henry è, nelle sue dimensioni, un romanzo un po' insolito nella bibliografia trollopiana, che in media conta romanzi composti da più di 500 pagine; quest'opera ne possiede poco più della metà e, forse proprio per l'esiguo numero di pagine, è stato uno dei primi titoli tradotti nella nostra lingua (a pensar male si fa peccato...).
The cousin Henry (questo il titolo originale), come altri romanzi di Anthony Trollope, ha al centro una disputa giudiziaria, in particolare un caso di eredità contesa.
Il romanzo si apre nella contea di Carmarthenshire, nel Galles, nella dimora di Indefer Jones, un vecchio e ricco proprietario terriero, cui ormai non resta molto da vivere. Il signor Indefer è visceralmente attaccato alla sua proprietà di Llanfeare, un'immensa tenuta che appartiene da molte generazioni alla famiglia Jones. Sfortunatamente Indefer è scapolo e non ha figli, ma ha riversato tutto il suo amore paterno sulla nipote Isabel, una brava e schietta ragazza, che vive con lui dopo la morte della madre e le seconde nozze del padre. Indefer, e non solo, vede bene come futuro proprietario di Llanfeare proprio sua nipote Isabel, che è ben voluta e stimata dai fittavoli e dai vicini. Le tradizioni di famiglia, cui egli tiene tantissimo e vuole rispettare, però esigono che la proprietà sia ereditata dall'erede maschio, cioè dall'altro nipote dell'uomo, un certo Henry Jones (dal passato un po' turbolento) che, nonostante abbia lo stesso cognome, non è ben visto neanche dallo zio. La questione dell'eredità tormenta e affligge il vecchio Indefer, che per placare la propria coscienza, individua come unica soluzione possibile un matrimonio tra Isabel e Henry; questa possibilità è, però, bocciata senza indugio da Isabel, che vede questa proposta assolutamente impraticabile.
Nel frattempo Henry si stabilisce nella tenuta mentre Isabel decide di lasciare l'abitazione dello zio e andare a vivere nella dimora paterna. Alcuni giorni dopo la sua partenza, la ragazza viene richiamata a Llanfeare, a causa dell'aggravarsi delle condizioni di salute dello zio. Indefer è, infatti, sul letto di morte e poco prima di spirare rivela all'amata nipote di non preoccuparsi poiché tutto è stato sistemato, come se l'uomo alludesse alla redazione di un nuovo testamento. Isabel decide di non farne parola con nessuno, ma presto iniziano a circolare delle voci insistenti, grazie alla dichiarazione di due affittuari scelti da Indefer per fare da testimoni alle ultime volontà, sull'esistenza di un probabile nuovo testamento che l'anziano proprietario ha redatto. Il testamento però non si trova e tutti iniziano a sospettare che Henry lo abbia nascosto; sarà veramente così?
Il cugino Henry è, forse, una delle opere meno conosciute di Trollope.
Questo è il secondo libro che leggo dell'autore inglese e, anche stavolta, è riuscito a coinvolgermi e a trasportarmi all'interno del suo romanzo.
Con la consueta velata ironia e il suo stile confidenziale, il romanziere inglese riesce a rendere interessante e coinvolgente una vicenda del tutto ordinaria, che può verificarsi ancora oggi; infatti, lo scrittore mette al centro del romanzo (come ne L'amministratore) un caso di coscienza, un'eredità contesa, un testamento.
Questo libro non è solo un caso di coscienza ma è anche un'attenta analisi psicologica del comportamento umano e gli effetti della colpa, dei sospetti e della procrastinazione.
L'autore inglese è un grande osservatore delle persone comuni e riesce a trasporre su carta i tormenti, le virtù, i difetti, i problemi quotidiani che contraddistinguono ognuno di essi. Trollope guida il lettore in un viaggio all'interno della mente dei personaggi, riuscendo a trasmettere e a far sentire al lettore i pensieri, le motivazioni decisionali, le paure, l'orgoglio, la testardaggine, le debolezze e i rimorsi della coscienza, di ciascuno. Sono tutti ben delineati, ognuno possiede qualcosa che lo rende umano e tutti hanno una caratteristica in comune: l'ostinazione, che si presenta sotto varie forme.
I due personaggi principali della vicenda sono i due cugini: Isabel e Henry.
Isabel è amata tantissimo dallo zio Indefer, con cui ha vissuto dopo la morte della madre, ed è ben voluta dai fittavoli. È una giovane ragazza dalla volontà d'acciaio, dotata di sani principi e, soprattutto, di un carattere risoluto. La figura di Isabel è ben lontano dallo stereotipo della donna vittoriana, il cosiddetto angelo del focolare; ella è una donna orgogliosa, ostinata, rigida, autorevole, decisa ad affermare la sua volontà nonostante le continue pressioni familiari. Alla ragazza non interessa il denaro, preferirebbe lavorare come governante pur di non fare un matrimonio d'interesse con Henry, perché se mai si sposerà sarà solo per amore.
Isabel (confesso che il più delle volte il suo comportamento mi ha irritato) è, spesso, talmente ostinata da sembrare molto testarda ma, in realtà, è una donna determinata e decisa a farsi valere a dispetto di tutti. La sua inflessibilità si rivela anche sotto il profilo sentimentale: è, infatti, poco espansiva e non molto incline a manifestare i propri sentimenti. Isabel è innamorata (ricambiata) di William Owen, un giovane e mite ecclesiastico, ma ahimè povero, che tempo prima aveva rifiutato (quando credeva di essere un'ereditiera) per non deludere lo zio Indefer (che pensava che un povero ecclesiastico fosse inadatto a sposare sua nipote) e che, dopo la sua morte, non può accettare lo stesso (nonostante ormai sia povera) perché si sente indegna di lui ed è troppo orgogliosa per andare da lui con le tasche vuote. E William? L'ecclesiastico sarebbe lieto di sposare la giovane ora che è senza un penny ma sente che non è giusto sposarla se è la ricca ereditiera di Llanfeare.
I due innamorati sono due persone dotati di un eccezionale e forte senso dell'onore che, a causa della straordinaria (cieca e spesso incomprensibile, aggiungo io) testardaggine di seguire principi abbastanza discutibili, perdono quasi la possibilità di sposarsi.
L'altra figura principale del romanzo, da cui quest'ultimo prende il titolo, è il cugino Henry.
Henry è un ragazzo pavido e codardo che vive a Londra, dove lavora come impiegato; sarà proprio a causa del suo carattere che si ritroverà coinvolto in una faccenda più grande di lui.
È un giovane dal passato un po' turbolento, che tempo prima aveva accumulato debiti ed era stato espulso da Oxford, e ora non gode di una buona reputazione; nessuno a Llanfeare lo può vedere o sopportare: la cugina Isabel lo tratta male, lo zio Indefer, nonostante voglia lasciarle la proprietà, in realtà non lo sopporta e non nutre per lui nessuno affetto, così come i fittavoli.
Henry non capisce perché le persone lo odino però non fa nulla perché gli altri cambino opinione su di lui; si dimostra una persona sciocca, mediocre, indisponente, incapace di prendere in mano gli affari della proprietà e rimane sempre chiuso in biblioteca. Questo suo strano comportamento non fa altro che accrescere i sospetti che Henry sappia dell'esistenza di un nuovo testamento e che lo abbia nascosto, perché, dopo varie ricerche, le ultime volontà di Indefer non si trovano. Nessuno sa che Henry ha trovato in biblioteca – sfogliando per caso un volume – il testamento dello zio, posto tra le pagine dell'ultimo libro che quest'ultimo stava leggendo; decide però di lasciarlo dove lo ha trovato, senza rivelarlo ad anima viva.
Questo ritrovamento segna l'inizio di un vero e proprio viaggio all'interno della sua mente. Dubbi, paure, incubi, affollano i pensieri di Henry; lui non sa cosa fare: deve raccontarlo? Deve distruggerlo? Deve lasciare che siano gli altri a trovarlo? Torturato dalla colpa e paralizzato dall'indecisione, decide di non muovere un dito; rimane inerte e immobilizzato nei suoi dubbi, si tormenta in sterili questioni di coscienza e sensi di colpa che accrescono l'antipatia che nel frattempo, a causa del suo strano comportamento e del suo carattere introverso, si è guadagnato; la sua posizione è ormai molto rischiosa, a metà tra l'essere vittima e l'essere furfante.
Henry potrebbe distruggere il testamento ma non lo fa, perché ha paura delle conseguenze derivanti da questo gesto. Neanche lui sa cosa teme di più, se perdere la proprietà o la libertà; sa solo che nonostante nella vita abbia fatto molti sbagli, ha una coscienza anche lui; una coscienza forte e inflessibile che sarà il suo tormento, la sua tortura e la sua disperazione.
Un personaggio, che si arrovella in tormenti simili a quelli del protagonista di Delitto e castigo, che nonostante possieda molti difetti, debolezze, imbecillità, è riuscito a suscitarmi svariati sentimenti e spesso farmi venire la voglia di prenderlo per le spalle e dargli qualche scossone per smuoverlo dalla sua posizione. La sua inazione e indecisione portano il lettore a detestarlo, provare simpatia, rabbia, o anche un po' di pena per questo ragazzo debole ma non realmente cattivo.
Un altro personaggio degno di nota, che mi è piaciuto e divertito, e sopratutto è importante per lo svolgimento della trama e per la risoluzione finale, è l'avvocato Apjohn.
Il signor Apjohn è una figura dalla grande forza morale. Amico di famiglia e avvocato di fiducia del signor Indefer, (per cui ha redatto il testamento ufficiale) poi per il cugino Henry, tempo prima ha rimproverato (senza successo) lo zio per la sua decisione di estromettere la nipote Isabel dalla successione per la proprietà.
Lo strano comportamento di Henry lo porta a sospettare che le voci che circolano sull'esistenza di un altro testamento siano vere, ma non può provarne la fondatezza; con grande perseveranza e tenacia, l'intrepido avvocato Apjohn decide di affrontare “fisicamente” Henry per andare a fondo della faccenda e finalmente scoprire la verità.
Ne Il cugino Henry Trollope conferma d'essere (se per caso ce ne fosse ancora bisogno) un ragguardevole rappresentante della letteratura vittoriana. Grande osservatore della realtà, delle piccole e grandi questioni che coinvolgono le persone comuni, riesce con stile sobrio, elegante ed ironico al punto giusto, a dipingere un quadro realistico della realtà vittoriana.
Grazie ad una trama piacevole e ad una scrittura elegante e raffinata, rende gradevole, interessante e credibile una vicenda normale che può accadere ancora oggi; rivela tutta la sua modernità, trattando argomenti più che mai attuali: denaro, classi sociali, status della donna, avidità, dubbi morali, il pericolo delle questioni di principio, spesso illusorie e pericolose, che influenzano la vita degli esseri umani, riflessioni su principi giuridici ed etici, sulla giustizia formale e morale.
Nel romanzo, però, non espone solo questi argomenti, tratta anche un interessante esame dell'idea che la proprietà debba passare all'erede maschio piuttosto che ad un membro femminile della famiglia, mostrando i pro e i contro del lasciare la proprietà alla generazione successiva, o del prendere delle decisioni importanti in maniera frettolosa senza pensare o fare, immediatamente, la cosa giusta.
Il cugino Henry è un romanzo gradevole e mai noioso, dalla prosa semplice, con una trama piacevole e piena di suspense, che tratta di colpa e ossessione; un dilemma morale in cui la grande penna inglese, rivolgendosi spesso al lettore con garbo e leggere ironia, mostra tutta la sua abilità nell'esporre in maniera dettagliata ma con la consueta leggerezza l'agonia mentale del protagonista; in cui guida e coinvolge il lettore in prima persona dalla prima all'ultima pagina, facendolo riflettere, portandolo a chiedersi come avrebbe agito lui in una situazione simile: avrebbe detto tutto o avrebbe anche lui nascosto o addirittura distrutto il testamento?
Queste e altre domande accompagnano il lettore per tutta la vicenda, tenendo costantemente viva la curiosità e alta la tensione fino al soddisfacente finale di questo insolito romanzo, che ha in sé molto del giallo psicologico.
Il suo animo era stato così oppresso dalla presenza del testamento che non aveva mai osato pensare alle gioie che gli avrebbe procurato il denaro dell'eredità. Era stato talmente angosciato che non si era reso conto di quello che poteva ottenere da Llanfeare.
The cousin Henry (questo il titolo originale), come altri romanzi di Anthony Trollope, ha al centro una disputa giudiziaria, in particolare un caso di eredità contesa.
Il romanzo si apre nella contea di Carmarthenshire, nel Galles, nella dimora di Indefer Jones, un vecchio e ricco proprietario terriero, cui ormai non resta molto da vivere. Il signor Indefer è visceralmente attaccato alla sua proprietà di Llanfeare, un'immensa tenuta che appartiene da molte generazioni alla famiglia Jones. Sfortunatamente Indefer è scapolo e non ha figli, ma ha riversato tutto il suo amore paterno sulla nipote Isabel, una brava e schietta ragazza, che vive con lui dopo la morte della madre e le seconde nozze del padre. Indefer, e non solo, vede bene come futuro proprietario di Llanfeare proprio sua nipote Isabel, che è ben voluta e stimata dai fittavoli e dai vicini. Le tradizioni di famiglia, cui egli tiene tantissimo e vuole rispettare, però esigono che la proprietà sia ereditata dall'erede maschio, cioè dall'altro nipote dell'uomo, un certo Henry Jones (dal passato un po' turbolento) che, nonostante abbia lo stesso cognome, non è ben visto neanche dallo zio. La questione dell'eredità tormenta e affligge il vecchio Indefer, che per placare la propria coscienza, individua come unica soluzione possibile un matrimonio tra Isabel e Henry; questa possibilità è, però, bocciata senza indugio da Isabel, che vede questa proposta assolutamente impraticabile.
Nel frattempo Henry si stabilisce nella tenuta mentre Isabel decide di lasciare l'abitazione dello zio e andare a vivere nella dimora paterna. Alcuni giorni dopo la sua partenza, la ragazza viene richiamata a Llanfeare, a causa dell'aggravarsi delle condizioni di salute dello zio. Indefer è, infatti, sul letto di morte e poco prima di spirare rivela all'amata nipote di non preoccuparsi poiché tutto è stato sistemato, come se l'uomo alludesse alla redazione di un nuovo testamento. Isabel decide di non farne parola con nessuno, ma presto iniziano a circolare delle voci insistenti, grazie alla dichiarazione di due affittuari scelti da Indefer per fare da testimoni alle ultime volontà, sull'esistenza di un probabile nuovo testamento che l'anziano proprietario ha redatto. Il testamento però non si trova e tutti iniziano a sospettare che Henry lo abbia nascosto; sarà veramente così?
Il cugino Henry è, forse, una delle opere meno conosciute di Trollope.
Questo è il secondo libro che leggo dell'autore inglese e, anche stavolta, è riuscito a coinvolgermi e a trasportarmi all'interno del suo romanzo.
Con la consueta velata ironia e il suo stile confidenziale, il romanziere inglese riesce a rendere interessante e coinvolgente una vicenda del tutto ordinaria, che può verificarsi ancora oggi; infatti, lo scrittore mette al centro del romanzo (come ne L'amministratore) un caso di coscienza, un'eredità contesa, un testamento.
Questo libro non è solo un caso di coscienza ma è anche un'attenta analisi psicologica del comportamento umano e gli effetti della colpa, dei sospetti e della procrastinazione.
L'autore inglese è un grande osservatore delle persone comuni e riesce a trasporre su carta i tormenti, le virtù, i difetti, i problemi quotidiani che contraddistinguono ognuno di essi. Trollope guida il lettore in un viaggio all'interno della mente dei personaggi, riuscendo a trasmettere e a far sentire al lettore i pensieri, le motivazioni decisionali, le paure, l'orgoglio, la testardaggine, le debolezze e i rimorsi della coscienza, di ciascuno. Sono tutti ben delineati, ognuno possiede qualcosa che lo rende umano e tutti hanno una caratteristica in comune: l'ostinazione, che si presenta sotto varie forme.
I due personaggi principali della vicenda sono i due cugini: Isabel e Henry.
Isabel è amata tantissimo dallo zio Indefer, con cui ha vissuto dopo la morte della madre, ed è ben voluta dai fittavoli. È una giovane ragazza dalla volontà d'acciaio, dotata di sani principi e, soprattutto, di un carattere risoluto. La figura di Isabel è ben lontano dallo stereotipo della donna vittoriana, il cosiddetto angelo del focolare; ella è una donna orgogliosa, ostinata, rigida, autorevole, decisa ad affermare la sua volontà nonostante le continue pressioni familiari. Alla ragazza non interessa il denaro, preferirebbe lavorare come governante pur di non fare un matrimonio d'interesse con Henry, perché se mai si sposerà sarà solo per amore.
Isabel (confesso che il più delle volte il suo comportamento mi ha irritato) è, spesso, talmente ostinata da sembrare molto testarda ma, in realtà, è una donna determinata e decisa a farsi valere a dispetto di tutti. La sua inflessibilità si rivela anche sotto il profilo sentimentale: è, infatti, poco espansiva e non molto incline a manifestare i propri sentimenti. Isabel è innamorata (ricambiata) di William Owen, un giovane e mite ecclesiastico, ma ahimè povero, che tempo prima aveva rifiutato (quando credeva di essere un'ereditiera) per non deludere lo zio Indefer (che pensava che un povero ecclesiastico fosse inadatto a sposare sua nipote) e che, dopo la sua morte, non può accettare lo stesso (nonostante ormai sia povera) perché si sente indegna di lui ed è troppo orgogliosa per andare da lui con le tasche vuote. E William? L'ecclesiastico sarebbe lieto di sposare la giovane ora che è senza un penny ma sente che non è giusto sposarla se è la ricca ereditiera di Llanfeare.
I due innamorati sono due persone dotati di un eccezionale e forte senso dell'onore che, a causa della straordinaria (cieca e spesso incomprensibile, aggiungo io) testardaggine di seguire principi abbastanza discutibili, perdono quasi la possibilità di sposarsi.
L'altra figura principale del romanzo, da cui quest'ultimo prende il titolo, è il cugino Henry.
Henry è un ragazzo pavido e codardo che vive a Londra, dove lavora come impiegato; sarà proprio a causa del suo carattere che si ritroverà coinvolto in una faccenda più grande di lui.
È un giovane dal passato un po' turbolento, che tempo prima aveva accumulato debiti ed era stato espulso da Oxford, e ora non gode di una buona reputazione; nessuno a Llanfeare lo può vedere o sopportare: la cugina Isabel lo tratta male, lo zio Indefer, nonostante voglia lasciarle la proprietà, in realtà non lo sopporta e non nutre per lui nessuno affetto, così come i fittavoli.
Henry non capisce perché le persone lo odino però non fa nulla perché gli altri cambino opinione su di lui; si dimostra una persona sciocca, mediocre, indisponente, incapace di prendere in mano gli affari della proprietà e rimane sempre chiuso in biblioteca. Questo suo strano comportamento non fa altro che accrescere i sospetti che Henry sappia dell'esistenza di un nuovo testamento e che lo abbia nascosto, perché, dopo varie ricerche, le ultime volontà di Indefer non si trovano. Nessuno sa che Henry ha trovato in biblioteca – sfogliando per caso un volume – il testamento dello zio, posto tra le pagine dell'ultimo libro che quest'ultimo stava leggendo; decide però di lasciarlo dove lo ha trovato, senza rivelarlo ad anima viva.
Questo ritrovamento segna l'inizio di un vero e proprio viaggio all'interno della sua mente. Dubbi, paure, incubi, affollano i pensieri di Henry; lui non sa cosa fare: deve raccontarlo? Deve distruggerlo? Deve lasciare che siano gli altri a trovarlo? Torturato dalla colpa e paralizzato dall'indecisione, decide di non muovere un dito; rimane inerte e immobilizzato nei suoi dubbi, si tormenta in sterili questioni di coscienza e sensi di colpa che accrescono l'antipatia che nel frattempo, a causa del suo strano comportamento e del suo carattere introverso, si è guadagnato; la sua posizione è ormai molto rischiosa, a metà tra l'essere vittima e l'essere furfante.
Henry potrebbe distruggere il testamento ma non lo fa, perché ha paura delle conseguenze derivanti da questo gesto. Neanche lui sa cosa teme di più, se perdere la proprietà o la libertà; sa solo che nonostante nella vita abbia fatto molti sbagli, ha una coscienza anche lui; una coscienza forte e inflessibile che sarà il suo tormento, la sua tortura e la sua disperazione.
Un personaggio, che si arrovella in tormenti simili a quelli del protagonista di Delitto e castigo, che nonostante possieda molti difetti, debolezze, imbecillità, è riuscito a suscitarmi svariati sentimenti e spesso farmi venire la voglia di prenderlo per le spalle e dargli qualche scossone per smuoverlo dalla sua posizione. La sua inazione e indecisione portano il lettore a detestarlo, provare simpatia, rabbia, o anche un po' di pena per questo ragazzo debole ma non realmente cattivo.
Un altro personaggio degno di nota, che mi è piaciuto e divertito, e sopratutto è importante per lo svolgimento della trama e per la risoluzione finale, è l'avvocato Apjohn.
Il signor Apjohn è una figura dalla grande forza morale. Amico di famiglia e avvocato di fiducia del signor Indefer, (per cui ha redatto il testamento ufficiale) poi per il cugino Henry, tempo prima ha rimproverato (senza successo) lo zio per la sua decisione di estromettere la nipote Isabel dalla successione per la proprietà.
Lo strano comportamento di Henry lo porta a sospettare che le voci che circolano sull'esistenza di un altro testamento siano vere, ma non può provarne la fondatezza; con grande perseveranza e tenacia, l'intrepido avvocato Apjohn decide di affrontare “fisicamente” Henry per andare a fondo della faccenda e finalmente scoprire la verità.
Ne Il cugino Henry Trollope conferma d'essere (se per caso ce ne fosse ancora bisogno) un ragguardevole rappresentante della letteratura vittoriana. Grande osservatore della realtà, delle piccole e grandi questioni che coinvolgono le persone comuni, riesce con stile sobrio, elegante ed ironico al punto giusto, a dipingere un quadro realistico della realtà vittoriana.
Grazie ad una trama piacevole e ad una scrittura elegante e raffinata, rende gradevole, interessante e credibile una vicenda normale che può accadere ancora oggi; rivela tutta la sua modernità, trattando argomenti più che mai attuali: denaro, classi sociali, status della donna, avidità, dubbi morali, il pericolo delle questioni di principio, spesso illusorie e pericolose, che influenzano la vita degli esseri umani, riflessioni su principi giuridici ed etici, sulla giustizia formale e morale.
Nel romanzo, però, non espone solo questi argomenti, tratta anche un interessante esame dell'idea che la proprietà debba passare all'erede maschio piuttosto che ad un membro femminile della famiglia, mostrando i pro e i contro del lasciare la proprietà alla generazione successiva, o del prendere delle decisioni importanti in maniera frettolosa senza pensare o fare, immediatamente, la cosa giusta.
Il cugino Henry è un romanzo gradevole e mai noioso, dalla prosa semplice, con una trama piacevole e piena di suspense, che tratta di colpa e ossessione; un dilemma morale in cui la grande penna inglese, rivolgendosi spesso al lettore con garbo e leggere ironia, mostra tutta la sua abilità nell'esporre in maniera dettagliata ma con la consueta leggerezza l'agonia mentale del protagonista; in cui guida e coinvolge il lettore in prima persona dalla prima all'ultima pagina, facendolo riflettere, portandolo a chiedersi come avrebbe agito lui in una situazione simile: avrebbe detto tutto o avrebbe anche lui nascosto o addirittura distrutto il testamento?
Queste e altre domande accompagnano il lettore per tutta la vicenda, tenendo costantemente viva la curiosità e alta la tensione fino al soddisfacente finale di questo insolito romanzo, che ha in sé molto del giallo psicologico.
Il suo animo era stato così oppresso dalla presenza del testamento che non aveva mai osato pensare alle gioie che gli avrebbe procurato il denaro dell'eredità. Era stato talmente angosciato che non si era reso conto di quello che poteva ottenere da Llanfeare.
June 6, 2019
A fascinating story and very different from the few other Trollope novels I have read.
I feel like I hated the characters I was meant to like, Isabel and Mr. Apjohn, and felt pity and compassion towards the one I was supposed to dislike, Cousin Henry.
From the start I could not understand why Cousin Henry was so despised and hated by everyone. He worked as a clerk in London, was an introvert and a bit awkward but I hardly see why those are reasons enough for him to be so vehemently hated by everyone else in the story. He was misused and ill treated and even though he did act in an ethically questionable manner regarding his uncle's will, I felt mostly sorry for him and wished someone would just be kind to him. If they had been kind in the first place much of what occurred would not have come to pass.
I feel like I hated the characters I was meant to like, Isabel and Mr. Apjohn, and felt pity and compassion towards the one I was supposed to dislike, Cousin Henry.
From the start I could not understand why Cousin Henry was so despised and hated by everyone. He worked as a clerk in London, was an introvert and a bit awkward but I hardly see why those are reasons enough for him to be so vehemently hated by everyone else in the story. He was misused and ill treated and even though he did act in an ethically questionable manner regarding his uncle's will, I felt mostly sorry for him and wished someone would just be kind to him. If they had been kind in the first place much of what occurred would not have come to pass.
Read
January 2, 2022I don’t ever rate or review books but I thought I’d drop a quick line on this one. It’s classic Trollope so it’s great, but if you have serious social anxieties then it’s also very relatable. No matter the reason for Henry’s anxiety (read it), every time a messenger is announced (today your phone/doorbell rings) or someone he knows is coincidentally walking towards him he goes into panic mode and wants to disappear. Yup. I get that.
August 17, 2023
Lo mejor es el estudio psicológico de los personajes y el estudio de cómo las convenciones sociales nos oprimen.
October 26, 2025
It would make a gripping period drama TV mini series, but it was all plot and no poetry
November 26, 2015
I read Trollope from the Delphi Classics edition of Complete Works of Anthony Trollope, which always has a very brief description, usually different than that on Goodreads. In it is said this is Trollope's most experimental work. What could that mean? Surely Trollope would not deviate from his usual writing style! I was immediately reassured that he did not.
Trollope, in spite of his seeing somewhat expanding roles for women, is a traditionalist. This book suggests that the traditional blind adherence to male inheritance of land might not always be in England's best interest. I have not read about the reception of Cousin Henry, but this idea might not have been well accepted. To these 21st Century eyes, the discussion of why it was always so was quite interesting. And, to these 21st Century eyes on this Thanksgiving, it further illuminates why there was such a migration from Europe to the United States where land was so plentiful and available.
This is relatively short. I'm afraid that the above paragraph makes this sound dry, dry, dry. There is a good story, although the outcome is predictable - well, at least the outcome is the hoped for one. The characterizations might not be quite to Trollope's usual high standard, but they might pale only in comparison to some of his other works, which are usually quite good. I can't quite say this is 4 stars, but it certainly hugs the top of the 3-star group.
Trollope, in spite of his seeing somewhat expanding roles for women, is a traditionalist. This book suggests that the traditional blind adherence to male inheritance of land might not always be in England's best interest. I have not read about the reception of Cousin Henry, but this idea might not have been well accepted. To these 21st Century eyes, the discussion of why it was always so was quite interesting. And, to these 21st Century eyes on this Thanksgiving, it further illuminates why there was such a migration from Europe to the United States where land was so plentiful and available.
This is relatively short. I'm afraid that the above paragraph makes this sound dry, dry, dry. There is a good story, although the outcome is predictable - well, at least the outcome is the hoped for one. The characterizations might not be quite to Trollope's usual high standard, but they might pale only in comparison to some of his other works, which are usually quite good. I can't quite say this is 4 stars, but it certainly hugs the top of the 3-star group.
May 1, 2007
Indefer Jones, childless, is torn between his love of primogeniture (which suggests that he leave his property to his nephew Henry) and his love for his niece, Isabelle, Henry's cousin. Ideally, this dilemma could be resolved by the marriage of Henry and Isabelle, but Henry's escutcheon is blotted, not horribly so, but too much so for Isabelle.
After wavering several times on his will, Indefer dies. Henry finds Indefer's final will, which leaves everything to Isabelle. Too greedy to reveal it, but not dishonest enough to destroy it, Henry returns it to where Indefer had left it, where it lies hidden so that Indefer's penultimate will, with Henry as legatee, is thought to be the final one.
But as happens to the protagonist in "The Cask of Amontillado," Henry's knowledge of the location of the true last will leads him into dark psychological realms.
Of course, questions about a will lead invariably to lawyers, and as I have said more than once in my reviews here, Trollope's lawyers are always enjoyable.
Trollope set this novel in Wales, where his post office duties had taken him years earlier. Aside from the names of people and places, though, it might as well be England.
After wavering several times on his will, Indefer dies. Henry finds Indefer's final will, which leaves everything to Isabelle. Too greedy to reveal it, but not dishonest enough to destroy it, Henry returns it to where Indefer had left it, where it lies hidden so that Indefer's penultimate will, with Henry as legatee, is thought to be the final one.
But as happens to the protagonist in "The Cask of Amontillado," Henry's knowledge of the location of the true last will leads him into dark psychological realms.
Of course, questions about a will lead invariably to lawyers, and as I have said more than once in my reviews here, Trollope's lawyers are always enjoyable.
Trollope set this novel in Wales, where his post office duties had taken him years earlier. Aside from the names of people and places, though, it might as well be England.
May 14, 2023
El primo Henry es un ser débil que no resiste a la tentación de ocultar el hallazgo del último testamento de su tío Indefer. Trollope trata el tema de la situación legal de la mujer con respecto a la herencia pero, sobre todo, de los remordimientos de conciencia en Henry, quien comete un pecado por omisión al callar lo que sabe.
Es muy interesante el papel del narrador omnisciente, que describe a la perfección los diferentes estados de ánimo del protagonista. En este sentido, me ha recordado bastante a "Crimen y castigo", incluso cuando el narrador se dirige al lector para reclamar su compasión por Henry.
Muy interesante también el personaje de Isabel, firme en sus decisiones y dispuesta a renunciar por principios a todo lo que ama (ella es la antagonista de Henry). Destaco además la labor detectivesca del abogado🔎, todo un Sherlock Holmes.
El final es feliz y el autor se repite menos que en "Lady Anna" (me temo que en Trollope me siguen sobrando capítulos 😂).
Es muy interesante el papel del narrador omnisciente, que describe a la perfección los diferentes estados de ánimo del protagonista. En este sentido, me ha recordado bastante a "Crimen y castigo", incluso cuando el narrador se dirige al lector para reclamar su compasión por Henry.
Muy interesante también el personaje de Isabel, firme en sus decisiones y dispuesta a renunciar por principios a todo lo que ama (ella es la antagonista de Henry). Destaco además la labor detectivesca del abogado🔎, todo un Sherlock Holmes.
El final es feliz y el autor se repite menos que en "Lady Anna" (me temo que en Trollope me siguen sobrando capítulos 😂).
February 28, 2023
I didn't like a single character in this story. Perhaps that was the point, but if so, then give us a better story to hang our hat on.
March 27, 2025
This 1879 late period Trollope novel, short enough to be considered a Trollope-novella, is the story of three related characters: two cousins and their uncle who is dying. Indefer Jones is a wealthy landowner in Carmarthen, Wales who is dying but has no children. He is trying to decide who to leave the family estate Lianfeare to. He favors his niece Isabel Broderick, who came to live at Lianfeare to help her uncle run the estate and to be less a burden on her father, step-mother and step-sisters.
Eventually, Uncle Indefer decides to leave it to a male heir with the family surname, his nephew Henry Jones, son of his wayward brother, who is currently a clerk in London. Uncle Indefer prepares a will stating such. When Uncle Indefer dies, that will is executed despite evidence that Uncle Indefer had made a last-minute will leaving the estate to Isabel. But the second will cannot be found and community residents, estate staff and Isabel think Cousin Henry has disposed of it. The fate of this second will is the key plot of the story.
However, as critics have observed, this novel is less concerned with plot and is more of a psychological study of Cousin Henry and, secondarily, his cousin Isabel. There are pages on pages of the mental anguish and back-and-forth that the pathetically weak and shallow Cousin Henry engages in. Isabel‘s thoughts also vacillate some but are generally self-righteous in a holier-than-thou way.
While the introspection was interesting at first, it became tedious after a while. Another problem is that, in delving deep into their psyche, Trollope reveals both Henry and Isabel to be less than likeable. Henry is too shallow to do the right thing and too weak to do the evil thing. Thus, the constant obsessive introspection over what to do. And by always claiming the moral high ground, Isabel loses the moral high ground a heroine needs to be heroic. A final defect is the relative absence of humorous observations. Trollope plays this one fairly straight, presumably because he was concerned with portraying a deeper psychological study than he usually tries to portray.
Overall, while I always enjoy reading a Trollope novel and always get something out of it, this was not one of my favorites. I felt about the same about it as I felt about Lady Anna; at the bottom of the Trollope stand-alones. I rate it as 3 stars.
The following is how I have rated Trollope stand-alones, listed in order of their overall GR rating which is also, except for the Fixed Period, identical to my ranking of the novels.
--MY ----------GR ----
RATING------RATING------------ NOVEL
--5----------4.06 ---------- The Way We Live Now
--4----------4.04 ---------- The Vicar of Bullhampton
--4----------4.00 ---------- The Claverings
--4----------3.97 ---------- Ayala's Angel
--4----------3.94 ---------- Orley Farm
--4----------3.91 ---------- Miss Mackenzie
--3----------3.88 ---------- He Knew He Was Right
--3----------3.84 ---------- Dr. Wortle's School
--3----------3.81 ---------- Rachel Ray
--3----------3.69 ---------- Lady Anna
--3----------3.63----------- Cousin Henry
--4----------3.06 ---------- The Fixed Period
Eventually, Uncle Indefer decides to leave it to a male heir with the family surname, his nephew Henry Jones, son of his wayward brother, who is currently a clerk in London. Uncle Indefer prepares a will stating such. When Uncle Indefer dies, that will is executed despite evidence that Uncle Indefer had made a last-minute will leaving the estate to Isabel. But the second will cannot be found and community residents, estate staff and Isabel think Cousin Henry has disposed of it. The fate of this second will is the key plot of the story.
However, as critics have observed, this novel is less concerned with plot and is more of a psychological study of Cousin Henry and, secondarily, his cousin Isabel. There are pages on pages of the mental anguish and back-and-forth that the pathetically weak and shallow Cousin Henry engages in. Isabel‘s thoughts also vacillate some but are generally self-righteous in a holier-than-thou way.
While the introspection was interesting at first, it became tedious after a while. Another problem is that, in delving deep into their psyche, Trollope reveals both Henry and Isabel to be less than likeable. Henry is too shallow to do the right thing and too weak to do the evil thing. Thus, the constant obsessive introspection over what to do. And by always claiming the moral high ground, Isabel loses the moral high ground a heroine needs to be heroic. A final defect is the relative absence of humorous observations. Trollope plays this one fairly straight, presumably because he was concerned with portraying a deeper psychological study than he usually tries to portray.
Overall, while I always enjoy reading a Trollope novel and always get something out of it, this was not one of my favorites. I felt about the same about it as I felt about Lady Anna; at the bottom of the Trollope stand-alones. I rate it as 3 stars.
The following is how I have rated Trollope stand-alones, listed in order of their overall GR rating which is also, except for the Fixed Period, identical to my ranking of the novels.
--MY ----------GR ----
RATING------RATING------------ NOVEL
--5----------4.06 ---------- The Way We Live Now
--4----------4.04 ---------- The Vicar of Bullhampton
--4----------4.00 ---------- The Claverings
--4----------3.97 ---------- Ayala's Angel
--4----------3.94 ---------- Orley Farm
--4----------3.91 ---------- Miss Mackenzie
--3----------3.88 ---------- He Knew He Was Right
--3----------3.84 ---------- Dr. Wortle's School
--3----------3.81 ---------- Rachel Ray
--3----------3.69 ---------- Lady Anna
--3----------3.63----------- Cousin Henry
--4----------3.06 ---------- The Fixed Period
December 7, 2022
3.5 stars
May 13, 2025
Trollope wrote Cousin Henry in 1879. It takes place primarily in Wales, and is centered around a moral conundrum. Henry is the rightful, but not automatic heir to an estate. His cousin Isabel has lived there with her uncle for quite a few years and is beloved by everyone who lives and works there. Without knowing the details of the owner's wishes, they all assume that the place will be left to her. When His uncle dies, the will leaves the estate to Henry. However, two workers on the estate swear that the uncle had them witness a second will just before his death that leaves the estate to Isabel. That will cannot be found, so Henry will inherit.
The novel is centered around the moral conundrum that Henry finds himself in when he finds the second will. I really enjoyed Trollope's psychological insights that are central to the novel's conflict and later developments.
I tend to enjoy plots that are middle-of-the-road in complexity. I struggle with novels that track 18 or 20 significant characters. Cousin Henry was a bit disappointing for a Victorian novel in that it was actually very simple and uncomplicated.
The novel is centered around the moral conundrum that Henry finds himself in when he finds the second will. I really enjoyed Trollope's psychological insights that are central to the novel's conflict and later developments.
I tend to enjoy plots that are middle-of-the-road in complexity. I struggle with novels that track 18 or 20 significant characters. Cousin Henry was a bit disappointing for a Victorian novel in that it was actually very simple and uncomplicated.
February 22, 2023
The Old Curiosity Club group read for Jan-Feb 2023.
This was my first Anthony Trollope book and it was very enjoyable. It was especially good as a group read. It was difficult to judge after moving from the two major characters as to which of the two was most likable. It seemed to move from one to the other and it seemed that much of our group were of the same mind. I especially liked the later half of the book and decided that both characters were about equal in the end. But I would like to read more books by this author.
This was my first Anthony Trollope book and it was very enjoyable. It was especially good as a group read. It was difficult to judge after moving from the two major characters as to which of the two was most likable. It seemed to move from one to the other and it seemed that much of our group were of the same mind. I especially liked the later half of the book and decided that both characters were about equal in the end. But I would like to read more books by this author.
October 26, 2019
A Anthony Trollope le sale aqui una novela con una cierta vena feminista porque el protagonista, Indefer Jones, un solteron rico y con propiedades, sabe que le queda poco de vida y ha cambiado el testamento ya mil veces: por una parte siente el deber de que su nombre perdure legándole todo a su sobrino, Henry Jones, y por otra parte siente el deber emocional de legárselo todo a su sobrina favorita, Isabel Brodrick, quien le ha acompañado todos estos años y auténtica alma de Llanfeare, una propiedad con arrendatarios y grandes tierras. Pero claro, Isabel al no llamarse Jones no sería la ideal para perpetuar el apellido. Así y todo y a sabiendas de que todos los derechos los tiene su sobrino, Indefer querría arriesgarse y que fuera una mujer la heredera.
Bueno, la novela es corta y sin embargo se hace un poco laaarga en el sentido de que aunque la primera parte es magnífica en su retrato de personajes, de situarnos en el dónde y en porqué de las cosas, la segunda parte se alarga innecesariamente con capitulos donde hay mucha paja de personajes sólo dándole vueltas a lo mismo de dónde podría estar el último testamento de Indefer Jones y auténtica clave del heredero/a de la propiedad. Henry Jones, el sobrino es una persona cobarde, dubitativa y pusilánime, todo lo contrario de su prima Isabel, que es una mujer fuerte, voluntariosa y llena de energía y es interesante ver el trazo psicológico que Anthony Trollope hace de ambos: dos primos enfrentados por una herencia, por un testamento final que parece tan bien escondido que toda la novela gira en torno a él.
Sin embargo, ya digo que la segunda mitad de la novela se alarga en demasía con las dudas de Henry Jones, y las elucubraciones de Isabel,y por otra parte confieso que no empaticé en ningún momento con la protagonista femenina que a mi me resultó antipática, despectiva y con ciertos rasgos de hipocresía por lo que me resultó dificil conectar con ella.
En definitiva, aunque comienza bien y Anthony Trollope tiene un gran talento a la hora de narrarnos un tema interesante ya en esa época, por otra parte no creo que esté muy acertado a la hora de desarrollar la novela porque llegado un punto resulta muy repetitiva y encorsetada.
February 10, 2023
"There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it." Alfred Hitchcock
We have no shortage of anticipation, being inside the guilt-ridden mind of Cousin Henry as he battles with his conscience. Despite Trollope's efforts, the anticipation doesn't lead to a bang, so much as a fizzle. As Henry can't decide whether to listen to the angel on one shoulder or the devil on the other, the reader is also privy to the inner thoughts of those whose lives are being impacted by Henry's actions (or inactions, as the case may be). None of these characters, with the possible exception of the inconsequential housekeeper, are protagonists we can root for; they are, in fact, quite flawed. Is the ending a happy one? I suppose some would say so, or at least that it was just. But Mr. Apjohn's sermon to Isabel in the final scene leaves no question that the circumstances that caused Henry and Isabel's strife haven't changed and may may yet be the cause of similar conflicts for generations to come.
We have no shortage of anticipation, being inside the guilt-ridden mind of Cousin Henry as he battles with his conscience. Despite Trollope's efforts, the anticipation doesn't lead to a bang, so much as a fizzle. As Henry can't decide whether to listen to the angel on one shoulder or the devil on the other, the reader is also privy to the inner thoughts of those whose lives are being impacted by Henry's actions (or inactions, as the case may be). None of these characters, with the possible exception of the inconsequential housekeeper, are protagonists we can root for; they are, in fact, quite flawed. Is the ending a happy one? I suppose some would say so, or at least that it was just. But Mr. Apjohn's sermon to Isabel in the final scene leaves no question that the circumstances that caused Henry and Isabel's strife haven't changed and may may yet be the cause of similar conflicts for generations to come.
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