Clara Amedroz is the only surviving child of the elderly squire of Belton Castle in Somersetshire. At twenty-five, she is old for an unmarried woman. Her father's income and savings have been dissipated to pay for the extravagances of her brother, who subsequently committed suicide. Since her father has no living sons, his estate, which is entailed, will pass upon his death to a distant cousin, Will Belton. Despite her poor prospects, she has two...

Sisters Magdalen and Norah Vanstone's lives are dismantled when their illegitimacy is made public, causing them to lose access to their family home and income. The women must fight to regain their financial footing, building a new legacy all their own. Following the deaths of their parents, Magdalen and Norah Vanstone learn they were legally single at the time of their births. This makes both daughters illegitimate and unable to collect their ample...

John Harmon returns to England as his father's heir. Believed drowned under suspicious circumstances--a situation convenient to his wish for anonymity--John evaluates Bella Wilfer whom he must marry to secure his inheritance. The story is filled with colorful Victorian characters and incidents -- the faded aristocrats and parvenus gathered at the Veneering's dinner table, Betty Higden and her terror of the workhouse and the greedy plottings of Silas...

"Lady Anna" was written in 1871 and first published in 1874. It tells the story of Lady Lovel, whose ambitious marriage to the ill-reputed Earl Lovel left her with a child of questionable legitimacy. When her daughter, Lady Anna, is nearly twenty one, the Earl dies and his fortune is left to a distant nephew. Lady Anna must now decide to marry the young Frederick Lovel for money, or to disregard her mother's vicious meddling and marry her true love...

Margaret Mackenzie, a spinster in her thirties, receives a large inheritance upon her brother's death. But the money comes with unlooked-for responsibilities-especially a rash of unwelcome suitors. Miss Mackenzie, whom Trollope described as "a very unattractive old maid" nevertheless has more to recommend her than her newfound wealth.

Originally published in 1871, Ralph the Heir revolves around two men named Ralph. One is the nephew and legal heir of Squire Gregory Newton. The other is the squire's beloved illegitimate son and preferred heir. The fortunes and misfortunes of the actual heir, as he desperately seeks to pay off his debts and marry a woman of good social standing, form the core of the novel. Particularly noteworthy is the book's description of a corrupt Parliamentary...

At the end of the Second World War, Cyril Conroy combines luck and a single canny investment to begin an enormous real estate empire, propelling his family from poverty to enormous wealth. His first order of business is to buy the Dutch House, a lavish estate in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia. Meant as a surprise for his wife, the house sets in motion the undoing of everyone he loves. Cyril's son Danny and his older sister Maeve are exiled from...

Anthony Trollope mixes love, money, and ambition in his love triangles — which has kept his fans reading his work addictively ever since Queen Victoria. In this 1867 novel, Harry Clavering, an ambitious civil engineer, must choose: to wed a wealthy widow and gain a life of comfort, or to honor his previous engagement — and struggle.

After the death of her father, Isabel Archer, a young American woman, travels to England to stay with her aunt, where she finds herself an object of affection for several men. When she is left a large legacy by her ailing uncle, she also attracts the attention of those with an interest in her substantial fortune. Faced with decisions about her future, Isabel must live with the consequences of the choices she makes, as her life is forever altered. The...

Harry's legacy from his great-uncle, a talking parrot, proves to be a much more exciting gift than he ever imagined.