Reading Order
Anthony TrollopeAnthony Trollope Novels Reading Order Reading Order
Anthony Trollope's The Way We Live Now (1875) is the largest and most ambitious of his novels — a satire of financial speculation and social corruption in 1870s England organized around the rise and fall of Augustus Melmotte, the fraudulent financier whose social ascent exposes the moral bankruptcy of every class of English society. Written in nine months after Trollope's return from Australia and regarded by many critics as the greatest Victorian novel about money and its power to corrupt everything it touches.
Where to start
The Way We Live Now
Complete Anthony Trollope Book List
- 1Buy
The Way We Live Now
Anthony Trollope·1875·Start here — Trollope's most Dickensian novel and the most modern-feeling of Victorian satirical novels; the story of the fraudulent financier Melmotte and the society that chooses to believe in him. - 2Buy
The Eustace Diamonds
Anthony Trollope·1873·Trollope's most exciting novel — Lizzie Eustace, who steals her own diamonds; a comic thriller and social comedy that is the best entry point to Trollope's Palliser series and the most immediately entertaining of his novels. - 3Buy
Barchester Towers
Anthony Trollope·1857·The most beloved of Trollope's Barsetshire novels — the new Bishop of Barchester and his terrible wife Mrs. Proudie versus the old guard; the best entry point to the Barsetshire series and still the most widely read Trollope novel. - 4Buy
Vanity Fair
William Makepeace Thackeray·1848·Thackeray's satirical panorama of English society through the careers of the scheming Becky Sharp and the virtuous Amelia Sedley is the predecessor that most directly anticipates The Way We Live Now in its portrait of how English society constructs and rewards the socially ambitious. - 5Buy
The Financier
Theodore Dreiser·1912·Dreiser's American parallel to The Way We Live Now — the rise of Frank Cowperwood, Philadelphia financier, through business manipulation and social maneuvering; the most sustained American treatment of the same theme as Trollope's greatest novel.
Anthony Trollope — Frequently Asked Questions
Is The Way We Live Now Trollope's best novel?
Many critics argue yes, or at least that it is his most important — the novel that shows what he could do at full stretch, with Dickensian ambition rather than the social comedy of Barchester or the political drama of the Palliser series. It is certainly his most modern-feeling novel: a satire of financial fraud, media complicity, and social corruption that reads as directly relevant to the 2008 financial crisis or the present day. However, it is not the best starting point — Barchester Towers or The Eustace Diamonds are more accessible entries into Trollope's world.
Who is the main character in The Way We Live Now?
The novel has an ensemble cast, but Augustus Melmotte — the fraudulent financier of uncertain origin who takes London society by storm — is the center of gravity. Around him Trollope arranges representatives of virtually every class and profession: aristocrats selling their daughters to American heiresses, young men gambling on Melmotte's shares, aspiring politicians, novelists, and clergymen. The novel's thesis is that Melmotte is not an aberration but a symptom — that a society organized around money will accept him because no one wants to examine the system too closely.
Do I need to read Trollope's other novels before The Way We Live Now?
No — The Way We Live Now is a standalone novel, unconnected to either the Barsetshire or Palliser series. It can be read without any prior Trollope. However, readers who come to it after Trollope's more affectionate social comedies (Barchester Towers, The Eustace Diamonds) often appreciate it more fully, having seen what Trollope's world looks like when he isn't in satirical mode. The contrast between the warmth of Barchester and the cold anger of The Way We Live Now is itself meaningful.
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