Is He Popenjoy?

By: Anthony Trollope

Narrated by: Nigel Patterson

Length: 22 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

Originally published in 1878, Is He Popenjoy? is a delightful comic novel written late in the career of author Anthony Trollope. The plot revolves around the themes of property and inheritance, as the relatives of the Marquis of Brotherton question the legitimacy of a foreign-born heir to the family estate.

Lord George Germain, as the younger brother of the marquis, can neither inherit the family title nor enjoy the income from the estate. He occupies the ancestral home, Manor Cross, only by grudging permission of his elder brother, who lives abroad. But he does find happiness in his marriage to Mary Lovelace, the sweet-natured young daughter of the Dean of Brotherton, who brings a family legacy that provides an immediate solution to his financial problems.

Lord George's new-found contentment is thrown into turmoil, however, when the marquis announces that he is returning to England, having married an Italian widow who has borne him a son - Lord Popenjoy, as the heir to the title is traditionally known. Lord George, his wife, his mother and sisters, must therefore leave the house to make way for his brother.

On his return, the marquis shows himself to be a despicable bully who treats his family and all around him with supercilious condescension. But Mary's father, the Dean, suspects that the marquis' son may not be a legitimate heir - that Popenjoy may in fact not be Popenjoy - and determines to make enquiries as to the validity of the marquis' marriage and his son's claim to the title.

The story is full of entertaining characters and twists and turns, including love affairs, jealousy and the rights of women - all told with Trollope's liberal satire and entertaining wit.

ANTHONY TROLLOPE (1815-1882), author of forty-seven novels, was one of the most prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. He is best known for his series of books set in the English countryside, and wrote standalone novels dealing with many political and social issues of his day.

Public Domain (P)2022 Nigel Patterson

Enjoyable story!

Love the vocab, difference in cultural perspective. Really enjoyable to listen to and the bad guy is bafflingly bad.

Highly Enjoyable…but is it Comic?

Here we have a former flame as devious and manipulative as Lizzie Eustace. A husband stiffer and more circumspect than Plantagenet Palliser. A clerical character as worldly wise – and foolish – as any that populate Barsetshire. And a storyline as complicated, surprising, and revealing of our human condition as any Anthony Trollope ever penned. This may well be the most satisfying of his free-standing novels that I’ve listened to.

However, it's billing as a comic story leaves me a little perplexed. Yes, there are funny passages – especially at the expense of ancillary young milords and the nascent women’s movement – but there is more to fear as our good heroine navigates the shoals and whirlpools of life among the right set. Though regretting that Timothy West wasn’t at the mic, Nigel Patterson’s performance gradually won me over.

Wonderful novel, adequate narration

If only Timothy West had narrated this one! It’s one of the best Trollope novels I’ve read so far (out of a dozen or so), dealing with a young married couple whose mutual trust is tested when they move to London. A couple of the subplots are less interesting (especially the one involving the women’s rights society, which Trollope seems surprisingly antagonistic towards, given his clear-eyed treatment of the subjugation of women in many other novels). But the “Is he Popenjoy” plot is interesting, and it takes a lot of skill to make us root for a primary couple who don’t love each other (and are not particularly lovable) when they get married. The way the husband’s and wife’s various errors and indiscretions are dealt with, and to what extent they are forgiven, and whether this marriage is salvageable, was a source of real tension and interest throughout.
The narrator was adequate. At some points his emphasis in various words suggested that he may have missed the meaning or significance of a sentence that Trollope (in my opinion) clearly intended. And his women’s voices are not the best, compared to the top male narrators such as Timothy West. But he is never grating to the ear, which is a big plus.

Great entertainment

Wonderful characters and terrific narration. There is so much in this book I plan to listen to it again.