Just as one has forgotten the intense pleasure of reading Trollope, along comes another flawless novel. -Library Journal (starred review)
A pleasure to read. -The Washington Post
Despite its title, Marrying the Mistress is no mere sexy romp detailing the lurid details of a juicy affair. Instead, Joanna Trollope offers a domestic drama that gives us an insider’s view of what happens to a family when the respected head of the household-60-year-old judge Guy Stockdale-announces he is leaving his wife of 40 years to marry his much younger mistress, Merrion. From his teenage grandson who thinks it’s cool that Gramps can still snag a hot young babe to his feisty daughter-in-law who sets up a secret meeting to check out the Other Woman, this is a nuanced tale that manages to be both familiar and surprising. What makes the situation complex-and the book beach-bag worthy-is that Merrion is far from the stereotypical villain/slut/husband stealer. She is intelligent, independent, successful and impossible not to like. Reading Marrying the Mistress is like spying on the neighbors that everyone on the street is gossiping about-without the guilt. -Salon.com
A modern-day Austen. -Library Journal (starred review)
Masterful storyelling and memorable characters…a wise and gently truthful take on a highly charged subject. -Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
This novel should easily vault onto the bestseller lists. -Publishers Weekly (starred review)
[Marrying the Mistress] must be the popular British writer’s most daring novel, as well as one of her most interesting…bracing and original…Trollope at her most challenging and thought-provoking. -The Cleveland Plain Dealer
Entertaining…great beach reading. -USA Today
A novel rich in accurate, piercing detail of domestic life and populated with strongly developed, realistic characters…absorbing and excellent. -Booklist
Splendidly nuanced. -Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
A great beach or vacation read. -The Baltimore Sun
Trollope again displays her extraordinary gift for representing the intricacies of familial relationships and the vicissitudes of domestic life…None of the themes here-betrayal and anger, the lovers’ age difference, the grasping mother, the daughter-in-law’s resentment-are terribly unusual, but Trollope’s proven ability to present them intelligently, as moral and emotional tangles faced by thinking, interesting people, satisfyingly combines the universally recognizable and the intellectually engaging. -Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Essential. -Library Journal (starred review)
