The Way We Live Now

‘The Way We Live Now’ is perhaps the most famous of all Anthony Trollope’s novels, and widely considered his masterpiece. A 19th century classic, it follows the tale of the mysterious Augustus Melmotte – a foreign financier who sets himself up in London with his wife and daughter Marie, and soon gains something of a reputation. Trollope wrote the novel on his return to the UK following an extended trip abroad, and was greatly influenced by his shock at the dishonesty and immorality of the financial scandals of the early 1870s that he returned to. The novel has been much adapted for TV and radio, most recently in 2001 as a BBC mini-series starring David Suchet, Matthew Macfadyen and Cillian Murphy.

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.