An Old Man's Love
1884
William Whittlestaff is fifty years old and has made his peace with a quiet life at his Hampshire estate. Then a letter arrives: Mary Lawrie, the penniless daughter of an old friend, has been left destitute by her stepmother's death. He brings her into his home, intending only kindness. But kindness becomes something else entirely. As Mary waits for word from John Gordon, the young man who has gone seeking fortune in the Kimberley diamond fields, Whittlestaff finds himself falling deeply in love with a woman half his age who will never love him back. Trollope's final novel is a devastating study of hope deferred: the ache of wanting what one knows one cannot have, the dignity of silence, and the peculiar torture of watching someone you love wish for another man's return. It is quiet, restrained, and utterly piercing.
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“Cuando un hombre desea utilizar palabras ardientes, debe usarlas mientras siguen en llamas.””
— Anthony Trollope
“...only that a man is not easily contented who has been among diamonds (Chapter IX: The Revd Montagu Blake)””
— Anthony Trollope
“A man always dines, let his sorrow be what it may. A woman contents herself with tea, and mitigates her sorrow, we must suppose, by an extra cup.””
— Anthony Trollope
“The eager words were hot now within his memory, having been sharpened against the anvil of his thoughts by his colloquy with Mary Lawrie. Tomorrow they might have cooled. His purpose might be as strong; but a man when he wishes to use burning words should use them while the words are on fire.””
— Anthony Trollope
“But she had never been so certain of her love”
— Anthony Trollope
“The past was a valley of dreams, which could easily be surveyed, whereas the future was a high mountain which it would require much labour to climb. When we think that we will make our calculations as to the future, it is so easy to revel in our memories instead. (Chapter IV: Mary Lawrie accepts Mr Whittlestaff)””
— Anthony Trollope
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Trollope, Anthony. An Old Man's Love. Lex, lex-books.com/book/an-old-man-s-love-5a2d7468-d2dd-4fa8-8009-5df1463a5c80.Trollope, A. (1884). An Old Man's Love. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/an-old-man-s-love-5a2d7468-d2dd-4fa8-8009-5df1463a5c80Trollope, Anthony. An Old Man's Love. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/an-old-man-s-love-5a2d7468-d2dd-4fa8-8009-5df1463a5c80.
