The Duke's Children

Written by Anthony Trollope

Narrated by Simon Vance

This story follows the elderly duke of Omnium as he struggles to overcome his grief at the loss of his beloved wife and battles the willfulness of his three adult children—his plans for them are quite different from their own.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Blackstone Audio
• Release date: Jul 19, 2012
• ISBN: 9781455157655

Anthony Trollope

Anthony Trollope (1815-1882) was the third son of a barrister, who ruined his family by giving up the law for farming, and an industrious mother. After attending Winchester and Harrow, Trollope scraped into the General Post Office, London, in 1834, where he worked for seven years. In 1841 he was transferred to Ireland as a surveyor's clerk, and in 1844 married and settled at Clonmel. His first two novels were devoted to Irish life; his third, La Vendée, was historical. All were failures. After a distinguished career in the GPO, for which he invented the pillar box and travelled extensively abroad, Trollope resigned in 1867, earning his living from writing instead. He led an extensive social life, from which he drew material for his many social and political novels. The idea for The Warden (1855), the first of the six Barsetshire novels, came from a visit to Salisbury Close; with it came the characters whose fortunes were explored through the succeeding volumes, of which Doctor Thorne is the third.

Reviews for The Duke's Children

[lauralkeet · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the final novel in Anthony Trollope's Palliser series. The Duke, aka Plantagenet Palliser, has retired from public life. His three children are coming into adulthood with minds of their own and values reflecting a changing society. Their potential marriage choices are particular causes of consternation, and the Duke must also face up to the not inconsiderable baggage he brings to this topic given history between him and his wife Glencora. I really enjoyed this book and it was a fitting way to wrap up the series.

[pgchuis · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Lady Glencora dies suddenly, leaving the Duke to parent their three children alone. The eldest, Silverbridge, is the part-owner of a race horse and runs up an enormous gambling debt before falling for (shock! horror!) an American. Mary, the daughter, has become engaged to a poor second son with no occupation, but Glencora kept this from her husband and the Duke forbids the match. The younger son, Gerald, also falls into (more minor) scrapes and the Duke becomes generally distressed and horrified. Needless to say it all ends happily.Not too much hunting and barely any real politics. Isabel, the "American" was entirely lacking in personality and Mary didn't have much beyond loyalty/obstinacy. Mabel was a much more fully-drawn character, but her story was a tragedy and she behaved so badly at the end that I was surprised the narrator treated her in such a sympathetic fashion. The ending was a little abrupt and the final pages particularly so. So Lord Fawn married at last...

[leslie398 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I am not a fan of the Duke of Omnium, and although this story, as its title says, deals mostly with his children, he retained one of his more annoying characteristics (being obstinate regarding a principle which I didn't find worthy of the effort. In the past, I had more sympathy with his principle but in this case I just felt he was being arrogant.).I also found Lady Mabel Grex irritating and repetitive.

[jbd1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I quite enjoyed the last Palliser novel, which centers on the Duke of Omnium and his three children in the aftermath of Lady Glen's untimely death. Lots of appearances from people we know from the earlier books, some excellent new characters, and a wealth of excellent subplots. As with the Barsetshire series, I was very surprised how compulsively readable these novels were: a real delight, and I'm sorry that I won't have the pleasure of reading them for the first time again. At least there's much more Trollope to be read, though!

[hemlokgang · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

So, I finished this sixth volume in the Palliser series. I loved it! Yes, it is sexist in many ways. However, I focus on the fact that it was written over 100 years ago. A grieving widower feels the burden of settling his grown children financially amd socially. Being a single parent is a timeless theme. Other themes included coping with the changes of the younger generation, the death of the aristocracy, fathets and sons, fathers and daughters, and more. Women are described as limited in their ability to chase their dreams, and must wait for life to happen to them at the whim of others, yet using feminine eiles to manipulate men. Frankly, I just enjoyed the character of the father, trying to cope with grief and change, not an easy pairing. Wonderful series!

[mbmackay · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The final book of the Palliser series - and I feel a sense of loss in parting from the characters I have grown to know and enjoy over the last couple of thousand pages. As is standard for Trollope, the plot is not complex and there is no suspense but he paints such rich pictures of the upper class and delivers believable characters. Wonderful stuff. Read April 2011.

[devenish_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the final book in the monumental six part 'Palliser' series.I have just (mid January 2010) completed my reading of the whole set and I have throughly enjoyed the experience. It begins with "Can You Forgive Her?" and continues with "Phineas Finn",then "The Eustace Diamonds","Phineas Redux","The Prime Minister",and then finishes with "The Dukes Children". This mainly concerns the Duke of Omnium's heir,Lord Silverbridge and his attempt to marry a girl thought unsuitable by his rather unbending father. The Duke's daughter,Lady Mary,is also proving to be a worry to him,as she is also set on marriage with a near penniless suitor. There are additional trials for the Duke as the gambling debts of Silverbridge and a second son,Gerald need to be dealt with. Trollope has written in an excellent villain in Major Tifto for whom the reader will ,I'm sure find a certain amount of sympathy.Of course the problems of the Victorian age are not those that have much relevance today,but the strength of the writing carry the story along well.My one and only criticism of Trollope is in the naming of some of his secondary characters. For example Sir Timothy Beeswax and Miss Cassewary.This seems to me to smack of laziness on the part of an otherwise marvelous writer.

[stringcat3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This last of the Palliser series is much more entertaining than its predecessor, The Prime Minister. The Duke's son, Lord Silverbridge will remind the reader of a scaled-down Phineas Finn but, I think, more endearing (as Lady Mab has discovered). The Duke himself is more sympathetic than in the previous volumes. In The Prime Minister he was either being overshadowed by his wife, the formidible Glencora, or indulging in those bouts of self-pity and hand-wringing that made most everyone he knew want to slap him. He now has a world of hurt and trouble visited on him in this last Palliser novel, and deserves some measure of, if not sympathy, then at least empathy.Mrs. Finn, previously Madame Max, gets once more to kick some Palliser butt, and it's highly enjoyable to watch (i.e., read). She reminds me somewhat of Martha Dunstable, later Mrs. Dr. Thorne, but less puckish.Major Tifto is a quite satisfactory heel, and Dolly Longstaff, now 35-years-young, gets a few aristocratic zingers in.

[macdad-236140 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In many respects the last novel of Anthony Trollope's "Palliser" series is about new beginnings -- particularly the beginning of adulthood and the changes that brings about. This is especially difficult for Plantagenet Palliser, the eponymous Duke of Omnium, who must serve as sole parent for his three children after the untimely death of his wife, Glencora. The focus of the novel is on the eldest son, Lord Silverbridge, and the daughter, Lady Mary, who are challenging the duke with their courses in life -- particularly those of matrimony, which the duke finds especially difficult to navigate.

It is not a criticism of the novel to say that it is not the best entry in the "Palliser" series. Perhaps this is because of the editing Trollope was forced to agree to (which led to the excising of a quarter of the novel) in order to publish it, and I am reserving final judgment until after I read the unexpurgated version, which is due to come out in a limited edition later this year, and will hopefully be published for a larger audience later on. As it is, though, it offers a frustrating sense of promise, as it seemed to me that he was introducing a new generation of characters to take on further adventures in the British political world that he wrote about so enjoyably in the previous novels in the series. Alas we are left only with this one, which will have to do as a conclusion to the world of the Pallisers.

[cbl_tn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

While the Duke of Omnium stayed busy with his political career, the management of the children was largely left to his Duchess. After the Duchess's untimely death, the Duke is forced to take a more hands-on interest in his children's lives just as they've reached adulthood. Although he's been a distant father, he loves his children in his own way. He's financially generous to his children, and he's not a strict disciplinarian. It seems he has only one expectation for his children – that they marry well, meaning within the aristocracy. His children's inability or unwillingness to adhere to his standard adds to his grief after his wife's death.Everyone but the Duke knows from the beginning of the novel how it will end. The novel is a character study with conflict arising from a “generation gap” in the midst of shifting social standards. Trollope was forced to cut a considerable portion of the novel prior to its original publication. Only recently has Trollope's original text been restored for publication. If I had to guess, I'd say that Trollope's cuts were made at the expense of the political portions of the novel. The earlier Palliser novels have more balance between politics and domestic life. Domestic/private life has more emphasis in this novel, and the political developments at the end of the novel come as a surprise.

[lit_chick_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I prolonged the last few chapters of this last of the Palliser novels as long as I could, not wanting the series to end, not wanting to have to say goodbye to the cast of characters I’ve come to know and love so well …The well-loved Duchess of Omnium, Lady Glen, is gone now, and the Duke is left to care for his three children, all young adults by this time. The eldest, Lord Silverbridge, has been dismissed from Oxford on account of some certain trouble involving the Dean’s home and red paint. The Duke’s second son, Lord Gerald, is doing moderately well at Cambridge. And Lady Mary, his only daughter, seems intent on what her father deems an unsuitable marriage.As the story progresses, the Duke will be called upon to guide and to discipline each of his children; and he will be hard pressed to reconsider his previously ironclad notion of “duty.” He comes to share in his children’s joy in a way that the most hard-hearted could only admire, but the getting there – well, there’s the story. Silverbridge and Lady Mary will tax their father to near his wits end with the matter of marriages he deems not befitting their station. When Silverbridge is refused by the suitable Lady Mabel Grex, he falls in love with an independent, spirited American, Isabelle Boncassen. Lady Mary declares she will have no other than Frank Tregear, a young and ambitious, but penniless, politician. The Duke is astounded “that an almost penniless young gentleman was asking in marriage the daughter of the richest and greatest nobleman in England.” (Ch 5) If this weren’t enough headache, Silverbridge enters an ill-fated partnership in the ownership of an ill-fated racehorse with one Major Tifto, “a nasty, brawling, boasting, ill-conditioned little reptile.” (Ch 17) And Lord Gerald is expelled from Oxford whereupon he turns shamefully to the gaming tables and becomes deeply indebted to a family acquaintance.My favourite quotes are the two following in which the Duke speaks of duty and station, and of money. In the first, he is speaking of his disapproval of Lady Mary’s association with Frank Tregear. And in the second, he is addressing Lord Gerald on the subject of money, following his son’s gambling losses.On duty/station:“Disapprove of it! How could it be otherwise? Of course you felt that. There are ranks in life in which the first comer that suits a maiden's eye may be accepted as a fitting lover. I will not say but that they who are born to such a life may be the happier. They are, I am sure, free from troubles to which they are incident whom fate has called to a different sphere. But duty is—duty;—and whatever pang it may cost, duty should be performed.” (Ch 41)On money:“Do you ever think what money is? … Money is the reward of labour," said the Duke, "or rather, in the shape it reaches you, it is your representation of that reward. You may earn it yourself, or, as is, I am afraid, more likely to be the case with you, you may possess it honestly as prepared for you by the labour of others who have stored it up for you. But it is a commodity of which you are bound to see that the source is not only clean but noble.” (Ch 65)The Duke’s Children is a brilliant conclusion to Trollope’s “Parliamentary Novels.” To Simon Vance, with whom I’ve spent so much time – and adored every moment of it – perhaps the best compliment I can offer is that he comes as highly recommended as the venerable author. Most highly recommended – the whole series! But I think this one was my favourite.

[japaul22 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

For those of you reading or planning to read the Palliser series, I'll say that I loved this book and you won't be disappointed if you love Trollope. But I can't review this without revealing a major spoiler that happens at the beginning of the book. So skip the rest if you've not yet read this.***************OK, so, I knew this, but my favorite, Lady Glencora, dies at the very beginning of this book. Boo. So right off the bat I was sure that I wouldn't like this book as much as some of the others. Also, Phineas Finn isn't in it at all except for the briefest of appearances. Another negative. Instead, this is the story of Plantagenet Palliser, the Duke, attempting to parent his newly adult children on his own. He has two sons and a daughter and all are giving him trouble. His eldest son, Silverbridge, wants to switch political parties away from the traditional family party, loses 70,000 pounds horse racing, and decides he wants to marry an American, Isabel Boncassen, instead of Lady Mabel Grex who his father prefers. His younger son Gerald gets kicked out of school and also racks up some gambling debts. His daughter, Mary, wants to marry the nameless and penniless Gerald Tregear. Most of the plot revolves around a rather complex love "triangle", though it's more of a pentagon. Lady Mabel Grex and Gerald Tregear had an early, youthful love but the practically put it aside since neither has money. Lady Mabel clearly still is in love with Tregear, though he moves on to Mary Palliser who he both loves and has a lot of money potentially. Silverbridge first proposes to Lady Mabel who tries playing games and refuses him (intending to take him as her most palatable option besides Tregear in the end). When Silverbridge is refused, he meets Isabel and falls in love with her. This does not sit well with Lady Mabel.In the end I was a tiny bit unsatisfied with this book as the end of the Palliser series. I didn't care as much about the characters and I didn't see the big picture themes as clearly as I have in other Trollope novels. I still loved the book and loved the series as a whole, but I didn't think this was the strongest of the set. Nevertheless, I'm sad to see the Palliser novels finish. Good thing Trollope wrote about a million books so I have plenty more options!