Sean O’s Reviews > The Belton Estate > Status Update

“Captain Aylmer having won his spurs easily, had taken no care in buckling them, and now found, to his surprise, that he was like to lose them. He had told himself that he would only be too glad to shuffle his feet free of their bondage; but now that they were going from him, he began to find that they were very necessary for the road that he was to travel.”

Pro tip: when everyone constantly asserts that a woman is “most excellent,” she is not. She’s really the worst.

Only one subplot: woman marries abusive drunk, leaves abusive drunk, changes name, marries someone else. First husband dies of drink. Random person attempts to expose said woman.

I’m hoping that Trollope will take the “bigamy is not that big a deal” route.

Clara is really pigheaded.

I do wish that the women in trollope’s novels had reasons for their proposal anxiety. The ones who dither around just to complicate the plot are always the heroines (Ayala, Clara Amedroz) and the ones who make clear decisions are always the problems and have sad ends (Julia Brabazon, Laura Standish.)

Typical “hard to get started” Trollope. He really needs about four chapters to get all the pieces in play.