The Eustace Diamonds by Anthony Trollope

The Eustace Diamonds, the third novel in the Palliser series, caused me to be a bit disappointed with Anthony Trollope, because it seems to me to be very derivative, as if he consciously copied the characters from Thackery's Vanity Fair and put them into a mystery plot copied from The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins. The result is a watered-down and not very tasty version of the two, with an anti-heroine not nearly as deliciously manipulative as Becky Sharp and a mystery which is not really very mysterious at all.

The heroine is Lizzie Eustace, a beautiful young widow. All who know her eventually come to the conclusion that she is a liar, but she is a consummate flirt and is fascinatingly rich, so she manages to attract many suitors. She is not a very interesting character, however, because she wins the games she plays more through luck and a pretty face than through cleverness on her part. In fact, she comes across as a trifle dim in the brain department.

The mystery has to do with the diamond necklace which she insists was given to her by her now-dead husband and which the Eustace family lawyer says is not lawfully hers because it is a family heirloom to be passed down to the head of the family. And then it is stolen. Who took it? Or did she hide it herself?

A sub-plot involves Lizzie's naively sweet friend Lucy Morris (a pale copy of Becky Sharp's clueless friend Amelia), who continues to stand by her man even when he doesn't come to see her or write to her because he is busy helping poor Lizzie with her problems. Get a clue, girl. He's not worth waiting for.

Even though I've been dismissive here, I moderately enjoyed reading this novel, mainly because I enjoy Trollope's writing style, with its mild irony and sarcasm. Maybe I've just read too much Trollope in too short a time. Maybe Trollope was just attempting a parody of Thackery and Collins and I took it to be imitating and doing a second-class job. Whatever, this is the Trollope novel I've enjoyed least.