SOURCE: "Anthony Trollope at Christmas," in Contemporary Review, Vol. 261, No. 1523, December, 1992, pp. 309-13.

In the following essay, Mullen places Trollope's Christmas stories within the context of the author's own holiday celebrations.

'A sirloin of beef a foot and a half broad, a turkey as big as an ostrich, a plum-pudding bigger than the turkey and two or three dozen mince-pies'—that was Anthony Trollope's menu for a perfect Christmas dinner. This rousing evocation of a truly English feast helps to explain Trollope's ever-increasing popularity with the Prime Minister as his best known reader. Contemporary Review takes some pride in seeing Trollope's advancement to his proper place in English literature; after all he was the principal founder of The Fortnightly, which is now incorporated into the Contemporary Review. Several publishers are producing reprints of almost all his 47 novels and the Trollope Society is bringing out a complete edition. In...