The Way We Live Now

by Anthony Trollope
Category: "Fiction - General"
Pages:825
Year of Publication:1875
Date Added:09/08/2015
Date Read:09/30/2015
Notes:Mr. Melmotte storms into London and is soon recognized as a financial genius. The aristocracy isn't quite sure he's worthy of their attention, but they queue up to marry off their destitute sons to his daughter, Marie. Melmotte is picked to handle the British sales of stock in an American railroad scheme and soon everything is buzzing. He's chosen to host a banquet for the Chinese Emperor and is elected to a seat in Parliament. But the rumors begin that he has been living on speculation and has very little money and that he is guilty of forgery. His "friends" begin to desert him and, after brazenly trying to hold out, he commits suicide. The first 700 pages of the book cover Melmotte and about 20 other characters who come into his orbit in one way or another (or come into the orbit once removed). The final 100 pages, after his suicide, are concerned with how those characters order their lives after he is gone.
My Rating: 6

Reviews for The Way We Live Now

Review - Way We Live Now, The

I haven't read one of these long, involved, multi-character British novels in a long time. I'd forgotten just how hefty they can be. The story about Melmotte didn't interest me a great deal. I saw where it was going early on. Some of the side stories about those in his orbit were interesting, some weren't. Most of them ended in a less-than-satisfactory fashion — the point seeming to be that love was not really all that important in marriage as long as you secure a living.

Reviewed by Roger on 2015-09-30 10:34:40

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