I think my reaction to this can best be described as interpreting this as a comedy of manners, where none of the characters are at all well-mannered. On the one hand, you have the Marquess of Brotherton, who is a consummate jerk; you have his younger brother, who seems to be a consummate ass (including dallying with a married woman); you have the younger brother's wife, who seems to be consummately naive (including dallying with another man); you have the wife's father, who seems to be a consummate social climber; and you have a batch of suffragettes, who are simply annoying. About the only sympathetic character in the whole lot is the first Lord Popenjoy -- who, since he dies while still a very small child, has not had time to develop annoying characteristics. There's the usual grubbing after money and position that appears in a lot of Trollope novels. Not, alas, a very edifying story. ( )

Mary Lovelace, the daughter of a Dean, marries Lord George, the younger brother to a Marquis. Lord George previously asked his cousin Adelaide to marry him, but she refused him and married a rich old man instead. After George and Mary's marriage Adelaide tells George she still loves him and he is drawn into an inappropriate flirtation with her, which Mary eventually discovers. Mary tries to love George, who is older than her, but enjoys the company of the young and dashing Jack de Baron. George tries to interfere with this friendship, but Mary points out that she has done nothing wrong. Meanwhile the Marquis returns from a 30 year residence in Italy with a wife and a sickly son. The son's legitimacy is in question and George and his father-in-law, the Dean, employ a lawyer to try to get to the bottom of things.

In many ways this was an enjoyable Trollope: the Marquis is terrible and the mystery surrounding his wife and son is initially intriguing; Adelaide is evil and scheming and I loved the scene where the Dean attacks the Marquis. Lady Sarah, who comes to appreciate Mary and always deals with her fairly is a touching character and the old Marchioness, while irrational and annoying (and latterly presumably suffering from dementia), is well drawn.

But, there were problems for me: I never understood why Mary loved George (apart from because she had married him) - he never said anything kind to her or supported her or in any way seemed to appreciate her good qualities. On the contrary, he was weak and negative and ineffectual and whiney. I disliked the way he and his family looked down on Mary for her middle class origins and only truly took her to their hearts when she became the mother of the heir. Trollope seemed largely to allow them to get away with this. They supported the Marquis as the head of the family to a truly masochistic level.

Trollope seemed to get bored of the central question of whether the child from Italy was or was not the heir: he killed him off so that it didn't matter and then the Marquis claimed that he didn't even know himself what the truth was. By this stage I wanted to know the answer in black and white. Trollope treated the women's rights movement with mockery, while allowing Mary to stick up for herself in her marriage and giving Lady Sarah important things to say about the role available to her and her sisters.

I think overall I felt that people didn't get their just desserts and it left a sour taste in my mouth. ( )

This is the first work by Anthony Trollope that I have read but it certainly won’t be the last. By the list of his books on the back cover it looks like I have many more to enjoy.
When I first read this title I had no idea who or what a Popenjoy was so let me clarify that right away. Lord Popenjoy is the title given to the oldest son of the present Marquis of Brotherton. Thus Popenjoy will one day be Brotherton unless some misfortune befalls him. The present Marquis of Brotherton has been living in Italy for many years leaving his mother, four sisters and younger brother in possession of the family home, Manor Cross. His brother, Lord George, has no money of his own and his sisters and mother have a very little bit of estate that enables them to live very modestly. When Lord George falls in love with his cousin, Adelaide de Baron, she rejects him because he has no fortune. Adelaide soon finds someone with money and becomes Adelaide Houghton. Lord George notices the daughter of the local clergyman, Mary Lovelace, who is, in fact, somewhat wealthy. He proposes to her father, the Dean of Brotherton, who approves of the match and recommends that Lord George ask Mary. The Dean is cognizant of the fact that the present Marquis has long been unmarried and thus has no heirs so George might, in time, become the Marquis. The possibility of a title for his daughter inclines him to favour the match, since he is the son of a stablekeeper.

The question of a person’s station in life is a dominant theme throughout the novel. It is hard for me, raised in a democratic modern society, to understand why so much importance was attached to titles. Certainly, the present Marquis of Brotherton is not “noble” as that word has generally been understood. Mary does marry Lord George but soon after they learn that the Marquis is also married and has an heir. In fact, the Marquis decides to return to England with his wife and son and turns his mother, sisters and brother out of Manor Cross. They decide to go to the dower house, Cross Hall, but the Marquis is not happy to have them so close to him. He refuses to have anything to do with the family except for a brief visit every Sunday with his mother. Lord George and the sisters, abetted by the Dean, question whether the son is legitimate since he was born before the Marquis said he was to be married. This question infuriates the Marquis and he becomes even more vindictive. He even tells the Dean, on one occasion, that Mary is a woman of loose morals. The Dean, bless his heart, picks him up and throws him into the (unlit) fireplace.
There are many trials and tribulations for Mary and Lord George and Trollope explores them deeply. If I have one complaint it is that the men in the novel are given far too much power over women. I know this was the era when women had no property rights but Trollope seems to imply that this is the natural course of things. Mary does rebel against some of the restrictions but she sees the error of her ways usually. I’m just glad I wasn’t born into that time period. I probably would have been one of the ladies Trollope makes fun of as being interested in women’s rights. ( )

Trollope was not an easy man. The insensitivity of some of his perceptions and attitudes need some explaining. Here are Anthony's beliefs: there was a benign and purposeful god. No one was given more to bear than he or she was capable of bearing. God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb, as he quoted often from Sterne's SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY, Anthony was also fond of quoting, 'whatever is right', from Pope's ESSAY ON MAN, his brother took this, translated into Latin, as his personal motto to go along with the family crest, instead of the Trollope family motto 'audio sed tacio' (i hear but keep silent'), neither brother was known for his ability to hold his tongue. ( )