An Old Man’s Love

Trollope’s final completed novel is a quiet, tender study of an aging bachelor who hopes to marry his much younger ward, only to face the claims of a rival and the true direction of the young woman’s heart. Wise and gently melancholy, it reflects the mature Trollope’s understanding of love, self-knowledge, and the dignity of letting go. Free of melodrama, it draws its power from careful observation of character and feeling. A graceful, poignant coda to a great career, An Old Man’s Love shows the beloved Victorian novelist at his most humane, exploring with quiet sympathy the disappointments and small triumphs of the heart in later life.