Victorians! discussion

Reading Schedule
July 22-28 ... Ch 1-4
July 29-Aug 4 ... Ch 5-9
Aug 5-11 ... Ch 10-13
Aug 12-18 ... Ch 14-17
Aug 19-25 ... 18-21
Aug 26-31 ... Catch up & Prep for Fall Reads :)

Feel free to post any background information on Anthony Trollope and The Golden Lion of Granpere

I read somewhere that this was one of three novels which Trollope published under an alias. Rather like Stephen King publishing as Richard Bachman in the middle of his career.

The reviews of the Golden Lion of Granpere seems to have a common thread -- a fun read -- perfect for the end of summer! I have never read anything by Anthony Trollope. So I am looking forward to it. My copy of the novel was in my mailbox today.

Hooray! I love when things arrive in time! (So annoying when they don’t)

This book was hard to find! I had to get it via Interlibrary Loan.

I got it free on iBooks!

It’s also free on Kindle.

I got mine through Kindle, but it’s worth checking Gutenberg if kindle is not an option.

I got mine through Feedbooks.

From the Oxford Companion to Trollope and also his autobiography. Trollope meant to have Golden Lion published anonymously in Blackwood’s Magazine which had already published Nina Balatka and Linda Tressel. However, Blackwood decided it wasn’t financially beneficial for him to publish Golden Lion. It lay unpublished for several years and was then serialized in the magazine Good Words in 1872. The Oxford Companion gives it a good review, but Trollope thought it inferior to the other two novels Blackwood had published. Placing it in Alsace-Lorraine was prompted by a trip he and his wife made to the region. In between the writing and publishing, the area had changed hands from France to Germany.
Always interesting to read the author’s take on his writing. My reaction to Trollope’s writing has sometimes been at odds with his personal intentions/critiques!

Thank you, Linda. That is really interesting.

I had taken a break from this genre for the last few months and I am glad to be back!! Once I started reading this era of novels all else paled in comparison. The language is intelligent. I think of the ugliness of so much writing and it makes me cringe. I was just at a outdoor music concert reading my book, LOL, and just laughed out loud at George considering choking Urmand. Then again, amongst all this properness, Michel determines Urmand is a “stupid mean little fellow, with his white pocket-handkerchief, and his scent, and his black greasy hair”!

That’s the thing people don’t realize when they start reading in this era- the Victorians were funny!