Culture Watch Reviews: P.D. James' Death Comes to Pemberley; Trollope's Nina Balatka

NINA BALATKA
By Anthony Trollope
Published in electronic format by Samizdat Express; 194 pp and as a 'Penguin Trollope'
Amazon: Nina Balatka by Anthony Trollope

From the first time I first knew of him, I have been among readers who turn to Anthony Trollope for a refreshed look at society, politics, and especially wealth (or lack thereof). If it weren’t for dramatizations like those for Masterpiece Theatre that translate the Victorian habit of authorial comment and direct narrative into an easier form for modern audiences, perhaps the recent revival of interest in his work might not have come about.

I’ve just happened on a novel of Trollope’s that is unfamiliar even to my friends who are true fans. In Nina Balatka he addresses anti-Semitism along with his customary targets of inequities in wealth, and the hypocrisy of those who take pride in being “good Christians.” Unlike so many of his novels set in England, this one is set in Prague. It appeared first anonymously in Blackwoods magazine. Since it is not an early work (1866), I wondered why he would have published it without his esteemed name attached. His autobiography explains this in a way to delight all aspiring writers.

Having achieved such success, he said, he felt that perhaps his name alone called up more praise than perhaps was deserved. He had an idea that good writers were being overlooked because they were not famous. He determined to try publishing without the cachet his name automatically provided in order to discover whether his stories were really worthy.

For this experiment, he abandoned the English countryside and London, and addressed a dilemma that could give rise to considerable resentment among the conventional upper middle class: his nearly destitute Christian heroine intends to marry a wealthy Jew.

From the beginning, the reader can see that the heroine is, as they used to say, pure as the driven snow, proud and loyal, guileless and brave. She is predictably assaulted with one misfortune after another, condemned unjustly, conflicted about her religion. Her affianced is a man somewhat older than she and who has amassed considerable wealth for his family through diligence. Christians in Prague who know the truth are surprised that he and his father are scrupulous and charitable. He is also a practical man of business who knows how to be hard when he feels it to be necessary.

The character of an ancient city with an eastern European style not just in architecture, but also in mores, unfolds around the two lovers as inexorably as their difficulties multiply. There’s a different flavor to these trials of a pair of star-crossed lovers from those others in Trollope’s stories. Their approaching tragedy is made to seem inevitable.

For anyone whose taste runs to character-driven as opposed to plot-driven tales, Trollope’s care to peel back the layers of personality must provide satisfaction. Anton the Jew is made sympathetic in spite of his behavior, and his family provides almost the only warmth in the whole story.

Most of us are no longer accustomed to reading such careful explanations — for everything from the appearance of a bridge to the past formative events in a person’s life. We certainly have lost the expectation of psychological analysis taking place in the midst of the action from an obvious authorial voice. Trollope cariacature

Trollope is a master of telling every thought, determination or fear, resolve or hesitation and what has led to those feelings. After a few pages, you can accept this. In spite of the thriller denouement, he paces the resolution with fairly extended further explanations of the thoughts that go through his characters’ minds. He spares no word of edification. The suspense is managed to great effect.

Every motive for even secondary characters is revealed. I couldn’t help thinking how comparatively easy it must be to translate his novels to the screen. A director must have few, if any, doubts about how to instruct his actors’ interpretations.

Never mind the archaic diction, the distinctly Victorian morality, though much of the meat of this tale is no longer shocking. This is a welcome change of pace for most of us who aren’t ashamed to enjoy a romance, or in need of some unashamed and entertaining preaching, even if it is to the choir.

Illustrations:

A watercolor and pencil sketch of Jane Austen, believed to have been drawn from life by her sister Cassandra (c. 1810)

Sir Leslie Ward study for drawing of Anthony Trollope published in Vanity Fair 5 April 1873

Pages: 1 · 2

Culture and Arts, Literature and Poetry, Culture Watch, Senior Women Web, Articles, Joan L. Cannon, Book Reviews, Julia Sneden, Authors Add comments

Culture Watch Reviews: P.D. James' Death Comes to Pemberley; Trollope's Nina Balatka

More Articles