SOURCE: Kendall, Elaine. “Relationships Slide into Generation Gap.” Los Angeles Times (15 October 1993): E4.

In the following review, Kendall compliments Trollope's “witty” portrayal of modern romantic relationships in The Men and the Girls.

Though the author is a descendant of Anthony Trollope and has written historical novels, The Men and the Girls is a brisk, thoroughly contemporary story of relationships between a pair of 60ish men and the young women with whom they live.

As the book begins, these connections are beginning to show some signs of wear and tear. The generation gap, hardly noticeable when the couples met, suddenly seems to have widened. Inevitably, the developing situation turns the book into a witty and involving cautionary tale.

James Mallow and his Kate have been together ever since they met in a pub when he spilled a dollop of beer on her shoulder.

Kate was then the single mother...