Kept in the Dark is a novel by the 19th century English novelist Anthony Trollope

Anthony Trollope

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 Chronicles of Barsetshire, revolve around the imaginary county of Barsetshire...

. One of his lesser and later works, it nonetheless has interest. It was published in eight monthly instalments in Good Words

Good Words

Good Words was a 19th-century monthly periodical in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1860 by Scottish publisher Alexander Strahan. Its first editor was Norman Macleod; after his death in 1872, it was edited by his brother, Donald Macleod....

in 1882, and also in book form in the same year.

Plot introduction

The plot is a simple one - Cecilia Holt ends her engagement to Sir Francis Geraldine because of his indifference to her; she goes abroad and meets Mr George Western, who has been jilted by a beautiful girl. They marry but she does not tell him she has been previously engaged, although he has told her his story. When Western is informed of the previous engagement by Sir Francis, Western leaves his wife and goes abroad; she returns to Exeter to live with her mother. Her sister-in-law in the end effects a reconciliation. There is a comic sub-plot, as so often with Trollope, involving one of Cecilia's friends who attempts to marry Sir Francis. The novel is principally about duty and truth in marriage, and the relationship of a couple to society.

Reaction

On its appearance the novel received middling notices; Trollope died in the year following its publication.