An Old Mans Love

An Old Mans Love is Trollopes last complete novel, finished seven months before his death and written in almost constant pain and illhealth. The old man of the title, however, is just 50 years old and has never had a days illness. William Whittlestaff becomes guardian to Mary Lawrie, the orphaned and penniless daughter of an old friend, and gradually finds himself falling in love with her. But Mary has already given her heart to the young John Gordon, who has gone to seek his fortune in the Kimberley diamond fields. His sudden return after three years absence, on the very day of Whittlestaffs proposal, precipitates a crisis at the centre of the story.