Home
/
Fiction
/
Marrying The Mistress
Marrying The Mistress
Nov 29, 2025 6:22 AM

Author:Joanna Trollope

Marrying The Mistress

From the pen of multi-million copy bestselling author Joanna Trollope comes this wonderfully moving and thought - provoking novel, pitting matters of the heart and head against each other. Perfect for fans of Elizabeth Noble, Erica James and Amanda Prowse.

'Particularly rich and satisfying' -- Mail on Sunday

'Clever, clever, clever... probes right to the heart of a typically modern dilemma' -- Daily Mail

'Brilliant' -- Spectator

'A...riveting read' -- The Times

'Absorbing. Loved it' -- ***** Reader review

'Such an enjoyable read. Another Trollope masterpiece' -- ***** Reader review

'I loved this book, it was difficult to put down' -- ***** Reader review

**************************************************************************************

Merrion Palmer has been Judge Guy Stockdale's mistress for the last seven years and his wife and two grown-up sons know absolutely nothing about her. Up until now, Guy and Merrion have enjoyed a blissfully, uncomplicated relationship in stolen moments in Merrion's flat, and to the rest of the world, Guy has played the part of model husband, father and grandfather.

But now the time has come for things to change. Guy has become conscious of wasted years and he wants to share his relationship with Merrion with the world.

He wants, dammit, to marry her. Yet he is quite unprepared for the storm that will follow ...

Reviews

Particularly rich and satisfying

—— Mail on Sunday

Clever, clever, clever... probes right to the heart of a typically modern dilemma

—— Daily Mail

Brilliant

—— Spectator

A swift and riveting read

—— The Times

This is Trollope at her best

—— Woman & Home

[Trollope writes] with such elegant precision - revelatory and ambiguous at just the right moments

—— Evening Standard

A cruelly funny book... most astute observation

—— Daily Telegraph

Subtle and delicate

—— The Sunday Times

La Ronde for the new century

—— Independent

A marvel- beautifully written, surprisingly moving, quietly rather brilliant

—— Harry Ritchie , Daily Mail

While Malouf's chief interest is in the human impulses that lie behind the epic deeds, he remains faithful to the beliefs and values of the ancient world

—— Edmund Gordon , Times Literary Supplement

immensely moving, modern novel

—— Elizabeth Speller , Independent

A dignified performance ... in writing this novel Malouf is honouring a great work and also making a great work of his own ... his graceful fiction deals in truth and is always beautiful

—— Eileen Battersby , Irish Times

Beautifully written and very moving, Ransom is a reimagining that respects Homer's original while expanding expertly on its themes.

—— Alastair Mabbott , Herald

Malouf captures the moving humanity of Priam's grief

—— Robert Collins , Sunday Times

Lyrical reworking of the final scenes of The Iliad

—— Metro

This superb novel goes by in a heartbeat, so smooth and engrossing is David Malouf's prose...It is a touching tale, full of pain, but rendered beautifully by Malouf's humanity

—— Lesley McDowell , Independent on Sunday

An audacious reworking of Homer's Iliad.

—— Holly Kyte , Sunday Telegraph

David Malouf...has given Homer's epic fresh life in this haunting mood piece...a graceful, eloquent text dominated by rage and sorrow

—— Eileen Battersby , Irish Times

This novel explores the timeless motifs of epic, in miniature

—— The Times

You know it ends in death, and so do Malouf's haunted protagonists, but this telling, at once unfussy and wonderfully poetic, breathes warm life into a great epic

—— James Smart , Guardian

Breathtaking skill...an extraordinary emotional charge.

—— Colm Toibin , Guardian, Christmas round up

A finely honed, writerly and wise revisiting of one of the most famous episodes in The Iliad, when Priam the King of Troy goes to bring home the body of his dead son Hector. No-one in prose has managed to better Malouf's imaginative recreation of the Homeric world.

—— Robert Crawford , Sunday Herald, Christmas round up

a potent new yarn... Beautifully written in simple language freighted with meaning, Ransom explores a king's impulse to act as a mourning father.

—— James Urquhart , Financial Times
Comments
Welcome to zzdbook comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.zzdbook.com All Rights Reserved