The Schlegel sisters are interested in the arts and in the more idealistic liberal social movements of their early 20th century world. The Wilcoxes are practical and materialistic. There seems to be little in common between the two families, but not even a highly embarrassing early amorous encounter can keep them apart. Poor Leonard Bast is as idealistic as the Schlegels, but encumbered by an unloved wife with a shady past, he has not their financial means to avoid dealing with the practicalities of life. Caught between the two factions, he eventually is crushed. Only Margaret Schlegel is finally strong enough to bridge the gap between the practical and the ideal by exerting her benevolent humanity, her passionate and yet controlled determination that people must "connect."HOWARDS END is a minor masterpiece, capturing perfectly the conflict between rigid Victorian values and the more free and open changes in the turbulent years before World War I. Forster handles his characters with great sensitivity and sympathy, yet with a subtle and skillful irony. The novel is not intended for rapid reading, but there is a felicity of expression that is an ample reward for careful perusal. Less fastidious than Henry James, not quite the equal of Trollope in characterization, a more subtle stylist than William Dean Howells, Forster combines some of the best elements of all three of these social chroniclers in an important work that is both highly personal and universal in scope.

What a pity it is that most of Burley's books are already out of print when so many of the unbelievable female private eye series and those stupid cat mysteries are thriving. The Wycliffe stories are among the very best detective novels, ranking right up there with Georges Simenon's Maigret series. In fact, Wycliffe is very much like an English Maigret, a detective who builds his cases not so much upon factual evidence as upon his ability to feel the atmosphere of the crimes and the characters of the victims and the suspects. To call his novels "procedural" is not truly accurate, although there is plenty of good solid criminal investigation involved, with a very interesting cast of assistants. But the emphasis is always upon the very realistic characters, involved in real human activities. The reader becomes as engrossed in the lives of these people as Wycliffe is as he quietly soaks in the ambience of the Cornish villages, where most of the stories take place, and bit by bit learns the secrets that lie behind the motivations of the characters. If you have never read a Wycliffe novel, and if you love good writing, especially in the detective genre, give yourself a special treat and try this book.

When my family moved into a new home when I was only 13, we found that the previous tenants had left a copy of this novel behind. And that is how I first met Peter Blood, one of the most intriguing characters in fiction. I don't know how many times I read that book as a teenager, but years later I acquired another copy and have read it several more times. I have never been disappointed in it.Dr. Peter Blood would probably have been content to spend the rest of his life in his quiet medical practice and tending his geraniums, but when he treats a patient who happens to be a revolutionist, he is charged with treason, is almost hanged, and is instead sent as a bond slave to Jamaica. There he is sold to plantation owner Col. Bishop, whose daughter Arabella takes a special interest in him. When the crew of a Spanish ship sacks the town, Blood leads some of his fellow slaves as they steal aboard the ship and capture it. Thus Capt. Blood becomes a pirate, a very noble one, but one who is sought by both the Spanish and the English. He names the ship the Arabella, and he cannot forget the lovely lady whose slave he had been. The ensuing story of Blood's fantastic career is one of the best sea stories ever written, and the love story is equal to it. I can't imagine any reader not becoming thoroughly engrossed in this excellent novel. And if you like this one and want to meet a character who is almost Blood's equal, try Sabatini's great novel of the French Revolution, SCARAMOUCHE.

When his best friend, a young clergyman, is killed in a mockery of a duel by an arrogant noble, just to quiet his eloquent expressions of democratic ideals, Andre-Louis Moreau vows revenge. From that point, through meteoric careers as a consummate actor and scenario writer, then as a fencing master, and finally a politician, the brilliant Moreau keeps thwarting the aims of the aristocratic Marquis de la Tour d'Azyr. However, the nobleman causes pain to Moreau as well, and the time must come when the two will meet to settle their enmity once and for all. You are not likely to guess how their confrontation finally turns out. Set against the backdrop of the French Revolution, this swashbuckling novel is exciting throughout, and it presents one of the most dashing heroes in fiction, a man who can fight equally well with his mind, his mouth, his pen, and his sword, a man who stirs up events wherever he goes. I can't decide whether I like this novel or CAPTAIN BLOOD better, but these two books of Sabatini's are among the very best adventure novels.

Take the title literally--this is about a real angel and a real contract. Hard-driving businessman R. A. Neenan is on a plane flight when he is confronted by the seraph Michael in the form of a huge, athletic black man. Neenan is informed that he does not have much longer to live, and he must try to make up for the wrongs that he has done to others. When the plane goes into a dive and almost crashes, he is convinced and signs the contract.

Neenan has a big job ahead of him. He has alienated a lot of people, including his bitter parents, his frigid and shrewish first wife (just like his mother), his actress daughter (who has been brought up on her mother's vicious tirades), a homosexual son, and, to a lesser extent, the other son, who is now working as an overshadowed junior executive in Neenan's company. Then there are a number of women whom he has conquered and discarded.

First, however, is his supersexy but neglected second wife, Anna Maria Allegro. This is the fun part--if you are unfamiliar with Greeley's novels, you'll be amazed at how much sex a celibate Catholic priest can inject into his writings. (Even angel Michael has a gorgeous "companion," Gaby. (Did you know that Gabriel is a female angel? And that angelic sexual encounters last for days?)

To the bewilderment of his associates, Neenan lives up to the terms of his contract. He doesn't always succeed, but he controls his wayward impulses and tries his best. He discovers that it is much more fun to be a good guy, especially in his relations (both in and out of bed) with his wife. But that fatal deadline is still hanging over him. The ending may be predictable, but who cares? No one would want the story to end differently.

It is difficult to tell just how much of Greeley's depiction of the divine is to be taken as his honest belief and how much is just pure twinkle-in-the-eye whimsy. Some of it is almost irreverent. (How about the Virgin Mary as a saucy Palestinian teenager who makes the best chocolate chip cookies ever created?) But if I had my druthers, I'd take Greeley's theology over anyone else's.

The book is great fun to read. Greeley is certainly an entertaining story teller, with the best kind of Irish-Catholic wit. Ah, I love this genial priest who packs so much love of life into his novels!

One of the brightest lights of the Palliser novels is extinguished in the first chapter with the death of the Duchess Glencora. Bereft of her vivacious influence the grieving Duke, already reserved and traditional, sinks into stodginess. Far worse than this, he is left with three young adult children whom he fails completely to understand. To say that they cause him many heartaches is to greatly understate the situation.

The eldest, heir to the title, Lord Silverbridge has already been booted out of Oxford for a silly prank. Now he goes into horse racing with questionable companions and winds up as the victim of a major scandal, which costs his father a huge sum. Next he deserts his father's choice for his bride to woo an American girl whose grandfather was a laborer.

The Duke's daughter, Mary, wants to marry a commoner, son of a country squire, a good man, but with no title and little money. The outraged Duke is adamantly opposed to such a match, but Mary vows to marry no other and is constantly miserable.

The youngest son, Gerald, who plays a relatively minor role in the novel, is forced to leave Cambridge because he was away without permission attending a race in which his brother's horse was running. Later he loses several thousand pounds in a card game.

The Duke bemoans his children's foolishness and their lack of respect for the traditions of their fathers. He pays for their mistakes, but vigorously opposes the two unwise marriages. But although he is a strict, authoritarian man, he is also a compassionate and loving father. Will he yield to the fervent desires of his rebellious offspring? The resolution of this clash of generations brings the Palliser novels to a satisfying conclusion.

As always, it is Trollope's great gift of characterization which makes THE DUKE'S CHILDREN an outstanding novel. From the outwardly firm but inwardly doubting Duke to the very sincere but frequently erring Silverbridge to the tragic Lady Mabel Grex, who has the young heir in her grasp only to let him slip away, these are well-rounded figures with whom the reader lives intimately and comes to understand thoroughly. With the perfectly depicted ambience of upper-class Victoriana as the setting, this novel is an absorbing work of genius.

First, if you haven't read "Phineas Finn," be sure to read it first. "Phineas Redux" certainly can be enjoyed without knowing the earlier novel, but it would mean so much more if you saw how Phineas's character and his relationships with others have developed from the first.

"Phineas Brought Back" (as the title means) really brings back Phineas Finn with a vengeance. The handsome, sincere young Irishman has always been a favorite with the ladies. In the first novel he was wounded by a jealous rival; in this one he is fired at by another and has his name scandalized in a newspaper. The high point of the novel is his trial for the murder of a political enemy.

Trollope's genius for character development is superb in these 2 novels. Phineas grows from a naive political novice into a highly capable government official, but his conscientiousness keeps him from playing party politics and causes problems with other members of his party. Phineas maintains his total honesty, a trait which frequently is to his detriment in the real world. His reactions to his imprisonment, trial, and acquittal are exactly right, so perfectly true to the character which Trollope has built up through hundreds of pages.

At the end of the novel, Phineas is still Phineas, but he is a much wiser and sadly disillusioned man. However, he receives the reward of a splendid mate, a woman who is truly worthy of him and whom he now has matured enough to appreciate. If only he had married her when she proposed to him in the first novel! But then none of his engrossing problems would have occurred.

This is one of Trollope's most exciting novels, a true page-turner in the trial sequence. As always, every characterization is extremely well done by one of the world's greatest authors.

When Plantagenet Palliser (Duke of Omnium) is named Prime Minister, his wife, the Duchess Glencora, is delighted. Immediately she plunges into politics herself, giving huge parties intended to support the Duke, who is completely honorable, but unfortunately detached and reserved, seeming at times icy to those whose political backing is needed. Glencora, one of Trollope's most delightful creations, has a sparkling personality, but is occasionally too outspoken and is sometimes misunderstood. Eventually her well-intended machinations result in embarrassment for the Duke's ministry.

In the other main plot, Emily Wharton ignores the advice of her father and almost all her friends when she falls in love with Ferdinand Lopez, about whom very little is known except that he seems to be a wealthy gentleman. Finally she persuades her father to give his permission for her marriage. Very quickly she discovers that she has made a horrendous mistake, and her life becomes a living h! ell. Only one of her old friends remains true--Arthur Fletcher, who vows that he will always love no one but her.

Anyone who is interested in Victorian history and British politics will find the novel a pure delight. Others may find it slow going and mystifying in spots, although no such knowledge or interest is needed for the Emily-Lopez plot. Lopez is one of the most despicable villains in all of Trollope's fiction, ranking with George Vavasor of "Can You Forgive Her?" Emily, on the other hand, sometimes becomes tiresome in her queer, fastidious obstinacy.

The character of Plantagenet Palliser is finely drawn. He is a man who is scrupulously honest, too much so for partisan politics. He is a natural leader and yet a thin-skinned, conscientious man who takes any criticism to heart. He loves his vivacious wife, who teases him mercilessly when she wishes to upset him. The match seems very odd, and their marriage began under inauspicious circumstances, and yet she,! in her way, admires and adores her husband.

"The Pr! ime Minister" is an outstanding work by one of literature's greatest novelists, mainly because of his brilliant handling of character. No one does it better.

The Lady Lizzie Eustace, a beautiful young widow, claims that her husband gave her the extremely valuable diamond necklace to be her very own. However, Mr. Camperdown, lawyer for the estate, says that it is a family heirloom and must be given up. Lizzie, for whom lying is always more natural than telling the truth, stubbornly clings to the diamonds, taking them with her everywhere, rather than entrusting them to some safe depository.

But then there is a skillfully performed burglary, and the jewels are stolen from her hotel room in Carlisle. Or are they? Did Lizzie just use this scheme to make the diamonds disappear? Why is there a second burglary at her London apartment? The novel becomes a fascinating detective story.

Lizzie longs for a husband to share her problems. But which man is it to be? There is Lord Fawn, to whom she is engaged, but who breaks with her because of the diamonds. Lord George, a rather shady character, intrigues her with his swashbuckling mann! ! er. Then there is her ever loyal cousin, Frank Greystock, but he is supposedly engaged to a penniless nonentity, Lucy Morris.

Lizzie Eustace is one of Trollope's most interesting characters--beautiful, strong willed, intelligent in her way, but utterly untrustworthy, constantly scheming to get what she wants and always able to justify her actions to herself. It is no wonder that even the similarly mendacious Lord George is afraid of her. Lizzie alone makes this third novel of the Palliser series well worth reading.

Lily Dale is sublimely happy when she becomes engaged to Adolphus Crosbie, assistant secretary in a government agency and a mortal Apollo to Lily. And Crosbie is happy too--while he is with Lily. But when he is invited to spend a week at Courcy Castle and is looked upon with favor by Lady Alexandrina De Courcy, the temptation to marry into a noble family is too much for him, and he becomes engaged for the second time in a few weeks.

John Eames, a young government clerk, has loved Lily Dale for years. He longs to replace Crosbie in the jilted girl's affections, but she still loves Crosbie, despite his treachery. The ambitious Crosbie, however, soon finds that his aristocratic bride brings no money into the marriage, but maintains her expensive tastes. The marriage is a disaster from the start.

As John Eames' fortunes rise and Crosbie's decline, the reader is led to believe, as all Lily's friends urge, that Eames will eventually win the heartbroken lass, but Lily stubbornly clings to her hopeless love.

There are several subplots, some of them humorous, as Trollope's settings range from castle to rooming house, with vivid characters from varying social strata. As always, the characterizations are thorough and convincing. These are real people who behave realistically. Even when their actions seem surprising, they flow logically from the strong personal basis which the author has built into each character. Although the outcome is not nearly so pleasing as that of "Dr. Thorne," for instance, this book is a solidly enjoyable novel from one of the greatest literary series.