The American Senator

When John Morton returns to his rural English estate from a diplomatic posting in Washington, he returns not only with an American senator seeking to understand England, but also with a fiancée, the aristocratic beauty Arabella Trefoil. Morton’s return also brings him back into contact with his slightly older and estranged cousin, Reginald, who still resides in Dillsborough, their ancestral town.

Out of these elements, Trollope constructs a “chronicle of a winter at Dillsborough”—as the Senator of the title does not, in fact, take pride of place, which instead goes to the goings-on among residents of the town and its environs. As romantic intrigues unfold, elements of status, class, and wealth propel and dispel various attachments. The Senator acts as a foil to reflect on the absurdities of English life—somewhat tempered by the noble but headstrong character of the American.

As is so often the case with Trollope, some female characters are drawn with especial depth and clarity. Chief among these is Arabella Trefoil, whose heartless predatory pursuits of a husband are nonetheless depicted with some poignancy. Likewise, some minor characters—the wife of Dillsborough’s leading lawyer in particular—are nevertheless forcefully present.

Trollope wrote The American Senator between the last two installments of his political Palliser series, and a few characters from those novels make cameo appearances here. Trollope began writing the book while in Australia, and completed it at sea during the return voyage to England. Perhaps something of that distance contributes an ambivalence about life in his home country: so often marked by deep irrationalities, but so lovingly defended by the novel’s English protagonists.