Anthony Trollope

The Kellys and the O'Kellys Anthony Trollope

The Kellys and the O'Kellys (1848), Trollope's fourth novel set in Ireland, abounds in two of his signature themes: fortunes and fortune hunters, and unrequited love and marriage. It is a witty tale of a member of the landed gentry, Francis O'Kelly, Lord Ballindine, and his Catholic tenant, Martin Kelly. Both fall in love and encounter social and economic barriers. Lord Ballindine is rejected for being a spendthrift and Martin Kelly falls in love with the sister of the novel's villain, Barry Lynch, whose father had filched a fortune from the Ballindine estate.