The Prime Minister was a failure when it was first published in 1876. In the edition I read, from 1973, L.S, Amery, the writer of the introduction, agrees with the book's contemporary criticism. Amery writes, "However skilful the touches with which [Trollope] develops the character of one whom he regarded both as perfect gentleman and as ideal statesman, the resulting personality is not one in whose fortunes or emotions it was easy for the ordinary reader to take a very passionate interest."

If you read "ordinary reader" to mean extroverted people, you'll see the problem.

The Duke of Omnimuim is an introvert, without question. He doesn't know how to be the leader people need him to be because he doesn't know how to talk with people in a way that makes them feel important or even comfortable. Many times in the novel, the Duke's responses are received as harsh or abrupt, while the readers know that the Duke in no way meant to be harsh or abrupt.

Amery also finds the thread between the story of

the Duke's rise and fall as Prime Minister and Emily Wharton's courtship by, marriage to, and widowhood of Ferdinand Lopez weak

, but I disagree there, too. Both Emily and the Duke make decisions against the advice of family and friends and they turn out to be bad decisions. They are both true to themselves throughout the book, and this brings about their problems. They are both abandonded by those who would support them (the Duke by political friends, Emily by her family and friends) and in their failures sink too deep into dispair, unable to forgive themselves and being willing to take on all punishment they believe they deserve.

With all that, I think this is a successful novel. I liked the story of a Coalition government that didn't have a big task to do. It's a relief to think that sometimes government just has to keep the country moving forward. I liked that Emily made up her own mind. She was fooled as much as anyone by a charming man. You can't identify a good person from a bad one by how they look or how they perform in public. I like the story of the Duchess trying to help her husband succeed as Prime Minister. Her character flaws play perfectly into the action and I love Trollope's conclusion that Glencora was more successful in her own efforst and her own power than when she tried to help her husband.

My problems with the book are completely modern. Most often when i read Trollope, I can look past the (relatively minor) commentaries on gender, class, and race. The Prime Minister made that very difficult for me and might make it impossible for some other modern readers.

The treatment of Emily and the lesson that she should have listened to her family and friends is gross enough. That they were right is worse. They "knew" she shouldn't marry Ferdinand because, I'm going to be frank here, because he is Portuguese/Spanish (Trollope uses both terms) and Jewish and because no one knows who his parents are. I found myself cheering for Ferdinand early on as a result, even though I knew he was going to be the villain of the book.

I found The Prime Minister interesting but problematic. It's not my favorite Trollope book, but not for the reasons that so many others have criticized it. I'm glad to have read it, if only to check in with some recurring characters and have context for the last book in the series, The Duke's Children. But I don't know that I will reread it, as I have other Trollope novels, like Doctor Thorne and Phineas Finn.