The Way We Live Now

What It's About

Set in 1870s London, the novel follows the rise of Augustus Melmotte, a financier of murky foreign origins who arrives in society trailing rumours of enormous, possibly fraudulent, wealth. As Melmotte is courted by aristocrats, politicians and businessmen desperate to attach themselves to his fortune, Trollope weaves in a web of connected lives: the impoverished Lady Carbury, scheming to save her family through her writing and her son's marriage prospects; her feckless son Sir Felix, gambling and courting Melmotte's daughter for her money; and a handful of more honest characters trying to navigate love and integrity in a world where reputation has become entirely detached from substance.

Key Concepts

The novel is Trollope's angriest and most panoramic satire, aimed at the speculative mania, financial recklessness and moral hollowness he saw overtaking English society in the 1870s. It examines how money and the appearance of money could buy social standing regardless of character, and it skewers the marriage market, the literary and publishing world, and the willingness of the establishment to overlook fraud so long as it appeared profitable. The character of Melmotte has drawn long-standing criticism for antisemitic undertones in his depiction, and this remains a point of debate among readers and critics of the novel.

About the Author

Anthony Trollope (1815–1882) was an English novelist and civil servant who worked for the Post Office for over three decades, a career credited with introducing the pillar box to Britain. One of the most prolific novelists of the Victorian era, he was known for his disciplined, almost industrial approach to writing, producing a fixed quota of pages each morning before starting his day job. This working method, revealed in his posthumously published autobiography, scandalised some contemporaries who felt it was at odds with the idea of literary inspiration.