'Most of those among my friends who talk to me now about my novels, and are competent to form an opinion on the subject, say that this is the best I have written.'
Trollope singled out Orley Farm for its successful combination of realistic and sensational effects which he felt to be the highest achievement of the novelist. It was greatly admired by his contemporaries, including George Eliot and G. H. Lewes. The novel centres on a case of forgery and the anguish, guilt, and pathos of the central...