SOURCE: Romaine, Elaine. Review of The Men and the Girls, by Joanna Trollope. Belles Lettres 9, no. 3 (spring 1994): 78.

In the following review, Romaine discusses the theme of freedom versus responsibility and the mirroring of characters to create contrast and depth in The Men and the Girls.

Old age permits us “to dispense with exaggerated feelings and vain agitations,” wrote Madame de Maintenon in the 18th century. It allows distance, freedom from cultural expectations, even possibly wisdom. In Joanna Trollope's The Men and the Girls, Beatrice Bachelor, “a true Oxford spinster,” is the figure around whom the novel's characters play out their comic agitations. Her age and mere presence transform lives that seemed settled and quite happily dull. Two friends, James and Hugh, who are in their sixties, live with Kate and Julia, respectively, women in their 30s. Kate “has a huge capacity to accept” while Julia plans life by...