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Joanna Trollope

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Joanna Trollope

CBE
Trollope in 2011
Trollope in 2011
Born(1943-12-09)9 December 1943
Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire, England
Died11 December 2025(2025-12-11) (aged 82)
Oxfordshire, England
Pen nameCaroline Harvey
OccupationNovelist
LanguageEnglish
Period1978–2025
Spouse
David Roger William Potter
​
​
(m. 1966; div. 1983)​
​
​
(m. 1985; div. 2001)​
Children4
RelativesAnthony Trollope

Joanna Trollope (/ˈtrɒləp/ TROL-əp; 9 December 1943 – 11 December 2025) was an English writer. She also wrote under the pseudonym of Caroline Harvey. Her novel Parson Harding's Daughter won the 1980 Romantic Novel of the Year Award by the Romantic Novelists' Association.[1]

Early life, family and education

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Joanna Trollope was born on 9 December 1943 at her grandfather's[2] rectory in Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire, England, the daughter of Rosemary Hodson and Arthur George Cecil Trollope.[3][4] Her father was head of a small building society and an Oxford University classics graduate. Her mother was an artist and writer.[5] Her father was away for Second World War service in India when she was born; he returned when she was three years old. The family settled in Reigate, Surrey. Trollope had a younger brother and sister. She was educated at Reigate County School for Girls,[6] gaining a scholarship to St Hugh's College, Oxford, in 1961. She read English.[7]

Victorian novelist Anthony Trollope was her fifth-generation uncle,[8] and she was a cousin of the writer and broadcaster James Trollope. Of inheriting the name, she remarked:

Oddly my name has been no professional help at all! It seems to have made no difference ... I admire him hugely, both for his benevolence and his enormous psychological perception.[9]

Career

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From 1965 to 1967, she worked at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. While a civil servant,[2] she researched Eastern Europe and the relations between China and the developing world.[10] From 1967 to 1979, she was employed in a number of teaching posts before she became a writer full-time in 1980.

Trollope began writing historical romances under the pseudonym of Caroline Harvey, the first names of her father's parents. She formed the view that: "It was the wrong genre for the time."[5] Encouraged by her second husband, Ian Curteis, she switched to the contemporary fiction for which she became known.[11] The Choir, published in 1987, was her first contemporary novel.[8] The Rector's Wife, published in 1991, displaced Jeffrey Archer from the top of the hardback bestseller lists. As an explanation, she said in 2006: "except for thrillers there was nothing in the middle ground of the traditional novel, which is where I think I am."[5] In 1992, only Jilly Cooper's Polo and Archer's As the Crow Flies were stronger paperback bestsellers. "I think my books are just the dear old traditional novel making a quiet comeback", she told Geraldine Bedell in a 1993 interview for The Independent on Sunday.[6]

Often described as Aga sagas, for their rural themes, only two of Trollope's novels (by 2006) actually feature an Aga.[5] The term's entry in The Oxford Companion to English Literature (2009) states that "by no means all her work fits the generally comforting implications of the label".[12] Rejecting the label as not being accurate, Trollope told Lisa Allardice, writing for The Guardian in 2006: "Actually, the novels are quite subversive, quite bleak. It's all rather patronising isn't it?"[5] Allardice disputed the "cosy reputation" Trollope's books had acquired as her novels had "tackled increasingly thorny issues including lesbianism, broken families and adoption, the mood growing darker with each novel."[5] Terence Blacker, who coined the term for Trollope's fiction in Publishing News in 1992,[12] admitted a decade later that he "felt terribly guilty" for lumbering Trollope with the phrase.[13][14] Trollope told Bedell in 1993 that her fiction does "the things the traditional novel has always done" by mirroring reality and exploring "people's emotional lives". Bedell observed that her novels until then were:

never suburban, which is the real condition of most of England. Trollopian action takes place in large village houses, at vast kitchen tables; her doctors, vicars, solicitors and craft-gallery owners may worry about money, as her own parents did, but they don't have any social anxieties: they are invited for drinks at the big house as a matter of course. The books are as economically prestigious, and quite as aspirational in their own way, as the glitter blockbusters of the Eighties.[6]

In 2009, she donated the short story The Piano Man to Oxfam's 'Ox-Tales' project, four collections of UK stories written by 38 authors. Trollope's story was published in the 'Water' collection.[15] She wrote the first novel in Harper Collins updating of the Jane Austen canon, The Austen Project. Her version of Sense and Sensibility was published in October 2013 with limited success.

An adaptation of The Rector's Wife (1994), produced for Channel 4, starred Lindsay Duncan and Ronald Pickup.[16] The Choir, adapted by Ian Curteis, was a five-episode BBC television miniseries in 1995. It starred Jane Asher and James Fox.[17] Of her other novels, A Village Affair and Other People's Children were also adapted for television.[8]

Reviews

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A Spanish Lover: In The New York Times Betsy Groban wrote, ″Her story is filled with lively, astute and always affectionate insights into the abiding issues of marriage, motherhood and materialism, not to mention the destructive power of envy and the importance of living one's own life. ″[18]

Marrying the Mistress: ″With its sharp eye, light tone and sly, witty pace, Joanna Trollope's ninth novel delivers all the ingredients of romantic comedy, yet ends with a subtle, dark twist.″[19]

Friday Nights: Heather Thompson of The Guardian called Friday Nights "a light but insightful look at a rather conventional cast of characters."[20]

Charlie Lee-Potter, in an article for The Independent, wrote that Brother & Sister:

wades through the anguish of adoption, scooping up the pain of the adopted child, the agony of the birth mother and the insecurity of the adoptive parent along the way. If I was any one of the characters imprisoned in the murky jelly of this novel, I'd be straight on to the Adoption Agency, demanding to be re-settled with another creator. Joanna Trollope has a subject capable of making us weep at the tragedy and the loss, and yet what does she achieve? She so resolutely makes her characters emote to each other in a ghastly brand of unisex mush that I actually found myself blushing.[21]

Personal life and death

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On 14 May 1966,[4] Trollope married a city banker, David Roger William Potter. The couple had two daughters, Louise and Antonia, but divorced in 1983.[3][11] In 1985, Trollope married the television dramatist Ian Curteis and became stepmother to his two sons; she and Curteis divorced in 2001. After her second divorce, Trollope moved to West London.[7] She was a grandmother[5] and owned a Labrador retriever.[2]

Trollope appeared on a 1994 edition of the radio programme Desert Island Discs. She remarked that men often suggested her books were trivial, to which she liked to respond: "It is a grave mistake to think there is more significance in great things than in little things", paraphrasing Virginia Woolf.[22][23][24][25]

At age 82, Trollope died at her home in Oxfordshire on 11 December 2025.[26]

Works

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As Joanna Trollope

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Source:[27]

Some of Joanna Trollope's historical novels are re-edited as Caroline Harvey**

Historical novels

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  • Eliza Stanhope (1978)[28]
  • Parson Harding's Daughter (1979)**[28]
  • Leaves from the Valley (1980)**[29]
  • The City of Gems (1981)**[30]
  • The Steps of the Sun (1983)**[31]
  • The Taverner's Place (1986)**[32]

The Austen Project

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  • Sense & Sensibility (2013)[28]

Other novels

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  • The Choir (1988)[28]
  • A Village Affair (1989)[33]
  • A Passionate Man (1990)
  • The Rector's Wife (1991)[34]
  • The Men and the Girls (1992)[34]
  • A Spanish Lover (1993)[35]
  • Next of Kin (1996)[36]
  • The Best of Friends (1998)[37]
  • Other People's Children (1998)[34]
  • Marrying the Mistress (2000)[38]
  • Girl from the South (2002)[39]
  • Brother and Sister (2004)[40]
  • Second Honeymoon (2006)[41]
  • Friday Nights (2007)[42]
  • The Other Family (2010)[43]
  • Daughters-in-Law (2011)[44]
  • The Soldier's Wife (2012)[45]
  • Balancing Act (2014)[46]
  • City of Friends (2017)[47]
  • An Unsuitable Match (2018)[48]
  • Mum & Dad (2020)[49]

Non-fiction

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  • Britannia's Daughters: Women of the British Empire (1983)[50]

As Caroline Harvey

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Source:[51]

Legacy Saga

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  • Legacy of Love (1983)[52]
  • A Second Legacy (1993)[53]

Historical novels

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  • A Castle in Italy (1993)[54]
  • The Brass Dolphin (1997)[55]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Awards by the Romantic Novelists' Association, 17 July 2012
  2. ^ a b c "Interview With Joanna Trollope". Writers Write. Retrieved 12 December 2025.
  3. ^ a b British novelists since 1960, Gale Group, 1999, p. 323
  4. ^ a b International who's who of authors and writers, vol. 23, Europa Publications, Taylor & Francis Group, 2008
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Allardice, Lisa (11 February 2006). "Survival tactics". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  6. ^ a b c Bedell, Geraldine (27 June 1993). "Gloucestershire Chronicles". The Independent on Sunday. Archived from the original on 9 June 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  7. ^ a b Taylor, Jeremy (7 October 2018). "Me and My Motor: the author Joanna Trollope". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  8. ^ a b c "Joanna Trollope: You Ask the Questions". The Independent. 3 February 2005. Archived from the original on 9 June 2022.
  9. ^ "Joanna Trollope". Book Reporter.
  10. ^ "Before she was famous ... Joanna Trollope". The Times. 21 July 2005. Retrieved 24 March 2019. (subscription required)
  11. ^ a b Das, Lina (13 May 2017). "Joanna Trollope: My marriage breakdown was a relief – I could tell people I was in turmoil". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  12. ^ a b Birch, Dinah; Drabble, Margaret, eds. (2009). The Oxford Companion to English Literature. Oxford, Oxon & New York City: Oxford University Press. p. 43. ISBN 978-0-19-280687-1.
  13. ^ Gibbons, Fiachra (30 May 2003). "Queens of the bonkbuster and Aga saga defend the art - and heart - of their fiction". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  14. ^ Blacker, Terence (31 May 2003). "'Aga saga' may be my phrase, but it's not my style". The Independent. Archived from the original on 9 June 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  15. ^ Ox-Tales Archived 18 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Oxfam, UK.
  16. ^ Scott, Tony (12 October 1994). "Masterpiece Theatre: The Rector's Wife". Variety. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  17. ^ "Choir, The(1995)". TCM. 29 October 1995. Archived from the original on 18 June 2021. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  18. ^ Groban, Betsy (6 April 1997). "A Spanish Lover". The New York Times.
  19. ^ Frucht, Abby (9 July 2000). "Marrying the Mistress". The New York Times.
  20. ^ Heather Thompson (11 January 2009). "Review: Friday Nights". The Observer.
  21. ^ Lee-Potter, Charlie (1 February 2004). "Brother & Sister by Joanna Trollope". The Independent.[dead link]
  22. ^ "BBC Radio 4 - Desert Island Discs, Joanna Trollope". BBC.co.uk. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  23. ^ Woolf, Virginia (19 March 2017). Virginia Woolf: The Complete Collection. Oregan Publishing. ISBN 979-10-97338-69-5.
  24. ^ Rosenthal, Lecia (2011). Mourning Modernism: Literature, Catastrophe, and the Politics of Consolation. Fordham University Press. p. 134. ISBN 9780823233977 – via Google Books.
  25. ^ Temple, Emily (28 March 2018). "Essential Writing Advice from Virginia Woolf". lithub.com. Retrieved 15 December 2025.
  26. ^ McIntosh, Steven (12 December 2025). "Author Joanna Trollope dies aged 82". BBC.co.uk. BBC News. Retrieved 12 December 2025.
  27. ^ "Joanna Trollope". Fantasticfiction.co.uk. 17 July 2012.
  28. ^ a b c d Evans, Linda (12 December 2025). "Joanna Trollope obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 December 2025.
  29. ^ Trollope, Joanna (1980). Leaves from the Valley. Hutchinson. ISBN 0-09-142720-7.
  30. ^ Trollope, Joanna (1981). The City of Gems. Hutchinson. ISBN 0-09-145690-8.
  31. ^ Trollope, Joanna (1983). The Steps of the Sun. Hutchinson. ISBN 0-09-151380-4.
  32. ^ Trollope, Joanna (1986). The Taverner's Place. Hutchinson. ISBN 0-09-165920-5.
  33. ^ Trollope, Joanna (1989). A Village Affair (1st ed.). Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 0-7475-0365-6.
  34. ^ a b c Hepburn, David (12 December 2025). "Best Joanna Trollope books: Here are the 10 best novels by the Queen of the Aga saga, according to readers including Mum & Dad". The Scotsman. Retrieved 12 December 2025.
  35. ^ Lee, Patricia (8 June 1993). "BOOK REVIEW / And Juliet is the sun worshipper: 'A Spanish Lover' - Joanna Trollope: Bloomsbury, 15.99 pounds". The Independent. Retrieved 12 December 2025.
  36. ^ Trollope, Joanna (1996). Next of Kin. Chivers Press. ISBN 0-7451-3807-1.
  37. ^ Trollope, Joanna (1998). The Best of Friends. Viking. ISBN 0-670-87973-8.
  38. ^ "Marrying the Mistress by Joanna Trollope". The Guardian. 11 February 2000. Retrieved 12 December 2025.
  39. ^ Redford, Rachel (3 March 2002). "Girl from the South by Joanna Trollope read by Emilia Fox". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 December 2025.
  40. ^ Truss, Lynne (25 January 2002). "Review: Fiction – Brother and Sister by Joanna Trollope". The Times. Retrieved 12 December 2025.
  41. ^ Saunders, Kate (3 February 2006). "Second Honeymoon by Joanna Trollope". The Independent. Retrieved 12 December 2025.
  42. ^ "Joanna Trollope obituary: Novelist of English village life". The Times. 12 December 2025. Retrieved 12 December 2025.
  43. ^ Trollope, Joanna (2010). "The Other Family". Penguin Books UK. Retrieved 12 December 2025.
  44. ^ Marre, Oliver (27 March 2011). "Daughters-in-Law by Joanna Trollope". The Independent. Retrieved 12 December 2025.
  45. ^ Brace, Marianne (26 January 2012). "The Soldier's Wife by Joanna Trollope". The Independent. Retrieved 12 December 2025.
  46. ^ Kellaway, Kate (28 December 2014). "Balancing Act review – Joanna Trollope's expert take on the pressure of combining family and business". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 December 2025.
  47. ^ Crace, John (12 February 2017). "City of Friends by Joanna Trollope – digested read". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 December 2025.
  48. ^ Trollope, Joanna (2018). "An Unsuitable Match". Pan Macmillan. Retrieved 12 December 2025.
  49. ^ Trollope, Joanna (2020). Mum & Dad. Pan Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-5290-0338-3. Retrieved 12 December 2025.
  50. ^ Trollope, Joanna (1983). Britannia's Daughters: Women of the British Empire. Jonathan Cape. ISBN 0-09-153970-6.
  51. ^ "Caroline Harvey". Fantasticfiction.co.uk. 17 July 2012.
  52. ^ Trollope, Joanna (1983). Legacy of Love. Littlehampton Book Services Ltd. ISBN 0-7064-1962-6.
  53. ^ Trollope, Joanna (1993). A Second Legacy. Corgi Books. ISBN 0-552-13917-3.
  54. ^ Trollope, Joanna (1993). A Castle in Italy. Retrieved 12 December 2025.
  55. ^ Lipson, Eden Ross (10 October 1999). "Review: Joanna Trollope". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 December 2025.
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