The Duke's Children

What It's About

The final novel in Trollope's Palliser series opens with the sudden death of the Duchess of Omnium, leaving her widower, Plantagenet Palliser, to raise their three grown children alone. Grieving and out of his depth, the Duke finds each of his children determined to follow their hearts rather than his wishes: his daughter falls for a suitor without fortune or title, one son runs up disastrous gambling debts, and the other is drawn to an American heiress the Duke considers an unsuitable match. As the Duke's own political career also falters, he is forced to reconsider his rigid ideas about duty, class, and love.

Key Concepts

The novel explores grief and the strain it places on family relationships, the generational clash between aristocratic tradition and a changing, more socially mobile world, and the tension between duty and personal happiness in matters of marriage. It also continues the series' interest in English parliamentary politics and the declining power of the old aristocracy.

About the Author

Anthony Trollope (1815–1882) was an English novelist of the Victorian era. He spent much of his career as a civil servant with the Post Office before achieving success as a writer, becoming known for his disciplined, highly productive writing routine and his perceptive portrayals of English social, domestic, and political life.