This is one of the best of Trollope's novels. It is set in the late Nineteenth Century (1870s) when things are changing and people, some at least, live differently than in earlier times.For one thing there is Lady Carbury, widowed and trying to supplement a small income by writing novels of all things! She has a son, Sir Felix Carbury, who is the complete lout. There is not much new in his case. He has squandered his own inheritance in drinking and gambling at cards, and is the near-ruin of two women in the story. His sister Hetta is a beauty and of course in a Trollope novel is pursued by two men. Hetta's rejection of the rich and steady man against all family advice is perhaps not new, but it is something that happens more frequently in "modern" times.The really new thing is the appearance of a modern financier, Mr. Melmotte. He uses leverage, watered stock and ponzi-like schemes to build a huge house of financial cards (think Bernie Madoff et al.). He entertains the visiting Emperor of Japan and English royalty and gets himself a seat in the House of Commons. Along the way he fleeces the old landed aristocracy represented by Mr. Longstaffe whose daughter Georgiana is particularly afflicted. Georgiana is of marriageable age but when her father must lose his house in London (due to Melmotte's scheming) Georgiana has no access to the London marriage market. She first contemplates marrying a rich Jew but family outrage puts a stop to that. Ultimately she is left with no better choice than to run off with an impoverished curate.I won't say what becomes of Melmotte, but it's dramatic.As an author who can develop and write wholly believable and interesting characters I rate Trollope on the top tier, along with Austen and Tolstoy. Other really excellent novels by Trollope include "Barchester Towers," "Dr. Thorne," "Can You Forgive Her," "The Eustace Diamonds," "Phineas Finn," "Phineas Redux," "The Prime Minister," and "The Three Clerks," at least these are my favorites.