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 eligible suitors.
Anthony Trollope was one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. Some of his best-loved works, collectively known as the Barchester Chronicles, revolve around the imaginary county of Barsetshire. He also wrote perceptive novels on political, social, and gender issues, and on other topical matters.

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Anthony Trollope was an English novelist and government official during the Victorian era. His best-known works include the Chronicles of Barsetshire, a series of novels set in the fictional county of Barsetshire. He also authored novels about politics, social issues, and gender, among other topics. Trollope's literary fame plummeted in his final years, but he regained some popularity by the mid-twentieth century. Anthony Trollope was the son of barrister Thomas Anthony Trollope and Frances Milton Trollope, a novelist and travel writer. Despite being a brilliant and well-educated man and a Fellow of New College, Oxford, Thomas Trollope failed at the Bar because of his nasty temper. Farming ventures proved unproductive, and he missed out on an expected bequest when an elderly childless uncle remarried and had children. Thomas Trollope was the son of Rev. (Thomas) Anthony Trollope, rector of Cottered in Hertfordshire, and the sixth son of Sir Thomas Trollope, 4th Baronet. The baronetcy was later passed down to the descendants of Anthony Trollope's second son, Frederick.