Our protagonist the young George Bertram meets and befriends the vicar’s son Arthur Wilkinson whilst studying at Oxford, and begins to wonder if he too has a vocation in the Church. Though strongly dissuaded by his wealthy merchant uncle, George takes a trip to the Holy Land to investigate his yearnings, triggering a series of romantic events. Unusual for an Anthony Trollope novel due to its many international locations, ‘The Bertrams’ is in all other ways a classic Trollope blend of romance, humour and religion.
Anthony Trollope (1815 – 1882) was a Victorian writer and author of 47 novels. He also wrote an autobiography, short stories and plays, travel articles, reviews and lectures. A prolific writer, he made no secret of the fact that money was his motivation for writing – an admission which raised eyebrows among his literary contemporaries at the time. The amount of works Trollope authored are testament to his belief in hard work. His first successful novel was The Warden followed by its sequel, Barchester Towers. The Chronicles of Barsetshire are perhaps his most well-known series of novels, though many of his works have been adapted for TV and radio, starring many familiar faces such as Alan Rickman, David Tennant, Bill Nighy and Tom Hollander. Alongside his literary career, Trollope also worked for some time for the Post Office and is credited with the introduction of the iconic post box to Britain. A memorial to Anthony Trollope was unveiled in Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey in 1993.
