SOURCE: Harris, Michael. “Author Keeps Characters' Motivations Shrouded in Secrecy.” Los Angeles Times (7 August 2001): E3.

In the following review, Harris notes that grief plays a pivotal role in Next of Kin, but comments that Trollope's use of omniscient narration lessens the novel's overall impact.

Caro Meredith never quite fit in. A rootless Californian, a self-described “nomad,” she married an English dairy farmer out of her hunger for permanence but kept subtly aloof from her husband, Robin, and his family. All the more surprising, then, that Caro's death from a brain tumor should have such an impact on the Merediths, sending out shock waves to disrupt every part of their world.

Robin loved Caro but felt she didn't love him back. The evidence: She kept her infertility a secret until long after their wedding. She seduced their adopted daughter Judy into siding with her “progressive” ideas and rejecting Robin's...