Anthony Trollope

Kept in the dark; a novel. By Anthony Trollope

Kept in the Dark is a novel by the 19th-century English novelist Anthony Trollope. One of his lesser and later works, it nonetheless has interest. It was published in eight monthly instalments in Good Words in 1882, and also in book form in the same year. The plot is a simple one - Cecilia Holt ends her engagement to Sir Francis Geraldine because of his indifference to her; she goes abroad and meets Mr George Western, who has been jilted by a beautiful girl. They marry, but she does not tell him she has been previously engaged, although he has told her his story. When Western is informed of the previous engagement by Sir Francis, he leaves his wife and goes abroad; Cecilia returns to Exeter to live with her mother. Her sister-in-law in the end effects a reconciliation. There is a comic sub-plot, as so often with Trollope, involving one of Cecilia's friends who attempts to marry Sir Francis. The novel is principally about duty and truth in marriage, and the relationship of a couple to society.... Anthony Trollope ( 24 April 1815 - 6 December 1882) was an English novelist of the Victorian era. Among his best-known works is a series of novels collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, which revolves around the imaginary county of Barsetshire. He also wrote novels on political, social, and gender issues, and other topical matters. Trollope's literary reputation dipped somewhat during the last years of his life, but he had regained the esteem of critics by the mid-20th century