The Bertrams is Anthony Trollope's sixth novel (of 47), and one of his better efforts. Although the book came in for criticism for all its travel scenes (it goes to the Middle East twice during the course of the action), it is an excellent character study of a man, George Bertram, who had reason to expect that the world would beat a path to his door. It does not. He falls in love with a beautiful young woman, but it comes to naught; and she marries his friend instead -- a man who had shown himself to be more successful in the ways of the world.But this is a book about second chances. both for George, for his former fiancee Caroline, and for his friend Arthur Wilkinson, a poor clergyman. Trollope plays God, and does so with some grace. There is no deus ex machina to make everything right again, this not being a perfect world. The Bertrams ends on a somewhat somber key. I had expected a more happy ending, though I believe the subdued ending fit in better with the overall tone of the book. I am in the process of reading all of Trollope's novels in the Yahoo! Anthony Trollope group. So far I have read approximately half of them. I regard Trollope as perhaps the most underrated writer in English literature, and a real joy to read, even in his lesser efforts.
Trollope wrote “The Bertrams” fairly early in his writing career and to me it felt different from his usual fare. Of course there was his theme of boy meets girl, he/they fall in love, boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy eventually wins girl. The emotion seemed more raw though. In “Bertrams” Trollope also threw in some exotic locales such as Jerusalem and Egypt. On the surface this can seem boring but Trollope was always so good at looking under his character’s skin to their psychology, their emotions, and motivations. His writing never gets old for me and compared to some of today’s harsher literature and even harsher current political/financial/emotional climate reading Trollope feels like a conversation with a trusted friend. He never lets you down.
What do You think about The Bertrams (1993)?
This is a very atypical Trollope novel. The cynicism and unremitting bleakness can really put off fans of Trollope's comic novels.That said, it is a powerful novel. It has a little too much exposition and moralising by the narrator at times, but the characterisations of Caroline Waddington and George Bertram are excellent. Trollope succeeds in making them and their plight believable, even though they are perhaps the most stubborn couple he ever portrayed. I found their 'breakup' scene terribly p
—aime
