Can you forgive her?

by Anthony Trollope, Hablot Knight Browne, Miss E. Taylor · 1800

In the opening volume of Troll‑Trollope’s Palliser saga, three Victorian women wrestle with love, duty and the relentless pull of money and status. Spirited Alice Vavasor can’t decide between the reckless, ambitious cousin George and the steady, respectable John Grey, while her friend, Lady Glencora McCluskie, is trapped in an arranged marriage to the dignified Plantagenet Palliser yet tempted by the dashing but penniless Burgo Fitzgerald. Meanwhile the irreverent widow Arabella Greenow must choose a new husband from a dependable farmer and a charismatic soldier. Through witty dialogue and sharp social satire, Trollope exposes the clash between public expectation and private desire, and the way wealth and politics shape personal destiny. A lively, compassionate portrait of mid‑Victorian society, "Can You Forgive Her?" invites readers to laugh at, and sympathise with, the tangled hearts of its unforgettable heroines.