The Two Heroines of Plumplington

by Anthony Trollope, Lynton Lamb (Illustrator)

THE TWO HEROINES OF PLUMPLINGTON are the only daughters of two elderly gentlemen, well-known and well-respected in Plumplington. Unfortunately both young ladies have given their hearts to young men of whom their fathers disapprove. The fathers are stern, their daughters stubborn, and a merry Christmas is threatened.

CHRISTMAS AT THOMPSON HALL is a mid-Victorian Christmas tale meant to be read aloud to an assembled Victorian family. Thompson Hall awaits the arrival of Mr. and Mrs. Brown from the south of France. But Mr. Brown is down with a throat condition and unable to travel. Only Mrs. Brown is quite determined they will make it to Thompson Hall for Christmas.

Genres: Classics, Short Stories, Romance, Fiction, 19th Century

112 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1882

About the author

Anthony 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_...

Reviews

[Dafne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scritto nel giugno del 1882, Due ragazze è una delle ultime opere pubblicate da Trollope; infatti lo scrittore inglese morirà nel dicembre di quello stesso anno.
Questo racconto venne pubblicato nel numero natalizio della rivista “Good words”e viene da molti considerato, sia dai critici che dai lettori, come un'ultima cronaca del Barset, il famoso ciclo ecclesiastico di Trollope; questo perché Due ragazze è l'unico racconto ambientato nell'immaginaria contea del Barset dopo la conclusione del celebre ciclo. Un racconto che può essere considerato come l'ultima “piccola” – data la dimensione ridotta rispetto ai precedenti volumi – cronaca del Barset, in quanto vi sono alcuni richiami a luoghi o personaggi di quei romanzi, e potrebbe anche essere una delle numerose vicende minori che potremmo incontrare all'interno di quei volumi.
The two heroines of Plumplington (questo il titolo originale) è un racconto che narra la vicenda delle due ragazze del titolo, Emily Greenmantle e Polly Peppercorn. Le due giovani hanno alcuni punti in comune: sono entrambe orfane di madre, sono figlie uniche di due signori – cittadini stimati e molto noti di Plumplington diventati ricchi grazie al loro duro lavoro – e sono entrambe osteggiate dai rispettivi padri nella loro idea di sposarsi con due giovani considerati dai genitori solo dei semplici lavoratori con un basso stipendio, e quindi inadatti (secondo loro) a sposare due ragazze economicamente benestanti.
Le due ragazze sono diventate amiche, nonostante le differenze caratteriali e di ceto sociale, grazie alla partecipazione alle attività sociali della cittadina e a quelle didattiche della parrocchia guidata dal dottor Freeborn.
Emily, una giovane seria e giudiziosa, è la figlia del direttore della banca cittadina, un uomo fiero, dignitoso e difficile da persuadere, che non condivide affatto l'idea della figlia di sposare un impiegato della sua banca.
Polly Peppercorn è, invece, una ragazza schietta, carina e intelligente, molto amata dal padre – un mastro birraio, capofabbrica di un birrificio; buono, sincero, dal temperamento focoso e molto attaccato al denaro – che ama ed è ricambiata da un venditore di malto.

Due ragazze è un racconto carino, scorrevole, spensierato, dai bellissimi e particolari nomi sia della cittadina che di alcuni personaggi; ricco di dialoghi divertenti, frizzanti e schietti, in cui non manca l'ironia, spesso anche tagliente, e le acute osservazioni sulla natura umana; ma è certamente un'opera inferiore rispetto ai romanzi del ciclo ecclesiastico, e ciò è dovuto in parte anche alla sua brevità.
In questo racconto Trollope narra un mondo fatto di quotidianità, di piccole questioni che animano la società vittoriana, in cui l'autore non manca però di toccare e sottolineare – sempre con sottile e gentile umorismo (come suo solito) – temi importanti per quel periodo, quali lo snobismo e l'ipocrisia del sistema di classe e di certe convenzioni sociali della società inglese dell'epoca.
Un'opera in cui troviamo molte qualità dello stile “trollopiano”, come la descrizione delle figure femminili, che (anche in questo caso) sono raccontate in maniera magnifica dallo scrittore inglese; due ragazze all'apparenza calme e accondiscendenti ma in fondo coraggiose e risolute a far valere la propria ragione davanti ai loro padri (spesso bisbetici e testardi) ma che in fondo rispettano e ai quali sono legatissime.
Tra battibecchi, ripicche, fraintendimenti, franchezza, sarcasmo e fermezza, seguiamo la vicenda e la battaglia delle due eroine di Plumplington determinate a realizzare il loro sogno d'amore.

«In una cittadina come la nostra», disse il dottore, «si parlerà sempre del matrimonio di una ragazza.»

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pleasant story with a pleasant conclusion on Christmas Day, when the two heroines get all their conflicts resolved satisfactorily. It's not the greatest Trollope, but I have enjoyed trying to finish my year's reading goal with several of his short stories and novellas, particularly those set during the holidays. I love that my Delphi Complete Trollope on my Kindle includes every option.

[Carol Bakker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anthony Trollope is best suited for this glorious week between Christmas and New Years. It's perfect fare for cozying up with a steaming cuppa as long as you don't expect the plot to canter and trot. Trollope's plots only amble.

I love Trollope's females. Two beloved daughters (not sisters) are thwarted in romance by two fathers who didn't approve of men "marrying up". The girls are calm and compliant on the outside, but spunky and determined. They show respect to their cantankerous fathers. But you know they will get their way!

The names! A town called Plumplington? Mr. Hickory Peppercorn! Jack Hollycombe! Mr. Greenmantle. I gather baskets of delight from the character names in Trollope's novels.

Two quotes:

The rector challenges one father's objections. You disapprove because this young man doesn't have as much money at the beginning of his life as you have at the end?

Another made me laugh aloud, particularly because my husband is the quiet one in a crowd. Polly Peppercorn was nervous on behalf of her man Jack who wasn't comfortable making speeches and small talk in the company of a higher class. She consoled herself with the thought, The happiness of the world did not depend on loquacity.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars This is a sweet and funny little 60-ish page novella set some 30 years after the events in The Warden. My favorite part was getting brief glimpses of characters from the Barsetshire novels. The main one is Harry Gresham, the son of Frank and Mary. There is a hint that he is interested in the Dean’s daughter too, which would be Francis Arabin and Eleanor Bold’s daughter. I wonder if Thirkell read this and this got her idea of using Trollope’s world in her own novels. I absurdly adore hearing about the original characters’ descendants in Thirkell’s novels and all the County intermarriages. 😆 It was fun to get new characters in this novella too. I would have been happy to read more about them.

[Pgchuis · Rating 2 out of 5]

The two heroines are friends despite the fact that they are of slightly different social classes. Both their fathers have become rich from a lifetime of hard work. They therefore disapprove of their daughters' respective suitors, who are good, honest working men, but who are not rich (or titled). The daughters manipulate their fathers in an attempt to win them over and are aided in this by the extremely nosey rector Dr Freeborn. I found this humourless, boring and repetitive with very superficial characterization. Also my particular Kindle edition was riddled with typos.

[Louisa Blair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suddenly Trollope at the end of his life decided to add one last Barchester book to the series he had definitively finished thirty odd years earlier (by killing off the main character). I found it at the library and looking in the library cards at the end found that my Great-Aunt Dot had read it in 1953. So I read it with Aunt Dot. I recommend reading it with her.

[Cary · Rating 1 out of 5]

Worth reading only to complete the set-- much weaker than everything else to do with Barsetshire.

[Laura (Reading is a Doing Word) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun quick read. Polly Peppercorn and Emily Greenmantle both want to marry young men their fathers deem below them. A campaign of attrition ensues and the girls, subtly assisted by Dr Freeborn the rector, ultimately prevail. This is a light hearted story in true Trollopian style. The narration voices a gentle humour and highlights the snobbery and hypocrisy of the class system and certain social conventions. The girls are likeable, their fathers are shakeable but in the end it's all resolved in time for Christmas. A lovely wee read!

[Frances · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a charming novella concerning two young women, Polly and Emily, their respective fathers, and their respective suitors of which their fathers disapprove. How the young women try to convince their fathers that they have made sensible choices, and how the town of Plumplington views the developments of these relationships in the weeks leading up to Christmas, make up the heart of this lovely tale.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of a bonus short story at the end of The Warden. Realised about 20 pages in it's nominally a Christmas story, but finished it anyway. It's a nice short story in the same tone/location as the main Barsetshire story but without sharing characters; predictable and almost totally without stakes but okay.

[Joanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story is probably acceptable as a short story in the Christmas issue of a magazine but it is not Trollope at his best and it does not feel set in Barsetshire at all, as indicated by the creation of a substantial town not previously mentioned.

[Dana Loo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una novella che ha qualche collegamento sia con le Cronache del Barsetshire sia col ciclo Politico dei Palliser...

[Janice Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, funny. Only read the first story, more to enjoy later.

[Shan · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trollope does it again! I loved this Christmas story, although it's not my absolute favorite. Trollope's just so wonderful.

[Lizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Page Turner: 4
Writing Quality: 4.5 (Trollope is amazing!)
Profundity: 4 (Great insights into human nature).

Quality of Oxford World Classics Paperback Edition (lumped with The Warden): 2.5 -- tightly spaced font, okay paper, okay white space

[Ginny · Rating 3 out of 5]

As Mr. Greenmantle says: "Two heroines of Plumpington ! It sounds like a vulgar farce.". A fun little read, with a few choice Trollopian morsels. It definitely does not deserve to be equated to The Last Chronicle of Barsetshire.

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful collection of short stories. It is a shame the last one was so naff.

[Schopflin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Best considered as a comic short story, this doesn't lack Trollope's sharp observations of character, class and hypocrisy, but it is *very* slight.