As I'm sure you know, I've always got an audiobook on the go - I have a monthly subscription to Audible which allows me one book a month, so I'm always pleased to get something which is going to last me out the whole time. Trollope is your man if you want to be sure of that - some years ago now I worked my way through the Barchester Chronicles and the Palliser novels as well as a few standalones, including the amazing The Way We Live Now. But I'd never even heard of He Knew He Was Right till I saw a very positive recommendation on somebody's blog. And how right they were - this is a brilliant novel and I loved every minute of the 27 hours of listening.
There are numerous interweaving stories here, but the chief plot, the one which gives the novel its title, is the story of a young married couple, Louis and Emily Trevelyan. Louis is independently wealthy, though I don't think we ever find out the source of his riches, and they live comfortably in London with their baby son, another Louis. The marriage is a happy one and they love each other very much. But then everything changes. Emily's father, Sir Marmaduke Rowley, is governor of the Mandarin Islands (somewhere in the Far East) but he has a good friend in London by the name of Colonel Osborne, who is something of a ladies' man. Osborne takes to calling on Emily and, though nothing improper occurs, Trevelyan becomes increasingly jealous and suspicious. He forbids Emily to see or communicate with Osborne, but Emily judges this to be unfair and continues to receive his visits. This leads to so much fury on Trevelyan's side and obstinacy on Emily's that the couple separates. Louis deteriorates increasingly and eventually, in a very painful episode, kidnaps his small son and moves to a secret location in the country. Later, his mental health by now giving great cause for concern, he takes the child to a remote country house near Sienna in Italy.
While all this is going on, there's a lot of other action among their friends and relations. Emily's younger sister Nora, who has been living with her, is courted by a young aristocrat Mr Glascock, the heir to an Earl. When he proposes, Nora turns him down, much to the displeasure of her family and friends - however, Nora has fallen in love with Hugh Stanbury, a well-born but impoverished young journalist. At the point of turning down the proposal, Nora does not even know if Hugh returns her feelings, but luckily he does and the two plan to marry when the time becomes favourable.
Meanwhile, Hugh's young sister Dorothy is invited to live with a wealthy elderly relative, Aunt Stanbury, who has willed all her money and possessions to a young man named Brooke Burgess, to whose family she feels under an obligation for reasons in the long distant past. Brooke falls in love with Dorothy and asks her to marry him, but at first Aunt Stanbury forbids it - however as time goes by she softens her attitude. She had originally wanted Dorothy to marry a local clergyman, but Dorothy refuses him and so he.... Well you get the general idea.
What is really interesting about this novel - apart from the fact that it's a cracking story - is the way it interrogates marriage and women's roles. Louis' jealousy is undoubtedly unreasonable - he is compared at times to Othello - and becomes an obsession that completely takes over his mind and renders him unbalanced. But Emily, in resisting his requests that she should admit to her imagined infidelity, shows great strength of mind, despite the fact that she loves her husband and is devastated when her child is taken from her. Louis insists that the marriage can be saved if she will admit to adultery but, as she points out, he would then be living with a fatally tarnished woman with whom he could never be happy. Nora, meanwhile, is under great pressure from her parents (on a visit from the Mandarins) who are appalled that she should have turned down the offer of a title and a stately home to live in. Lady Rowley hopes Mr Glascock will try again on his return from Italy, but he has met a pretty young American woman and will marry her instead. As for Dorothy, finding the strength to act on her feelings rather than allowing her life to be ruled by Aunt Stanbury helps the timid young girl to mature into a confident young woman. So under the machinations of the complex plots seems to be the message that young women should be trusted to think and act for themselves.
In the end, after many pitfalls, everybody's lives are wrapped up satisfactorily - apart from poor Louis, who cannot survive the serious illness brought about by his mental disorder. This was one of those books where I was really sorry to see the end approaching so fast - I could have gone on reading, or rather listening, forever. Highly recommended!
