The romantic hero and heroine sparkle: virtuous characters who are also sharp and amusing! Frank's quasi-courtship of Miss Dunstable, the delightful, if ugly, "oil of Lebanon" heiress, is a brilliant stroke, and the happy ending is (very carefully) not reached until Frank has proved himself worthy.

You're in safe hands with Trollope: nothing too horrible will happen, at least not without warning, and all the deserving characters get their heart's desire. It's like cappuchino with a friend who is incomparably witty, candid, and goodnatured. It might be frothy, but it's froth raised to an art form.

Follows after Barchester Towers, but need not be read in order.

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