An Eye for an Eye

Set between western Ireland and Dorsetshire, An Eye for an Eye was originally completed by Anthony Trollope in 1870, but held back from publication until 1879 following serialisation in the Whitehall Review. The story centres around the seduction of the beautiful young Kate O'Hara by heir to the Earl of Scroope, Fred Neville, who is stationed at a barracks in Ireland close to where Kate lives in poverty with her mother. The novel focusses on Fred's inner torment when ordered by the Earl to end his romantic entanglement with Kate, and the conflict and complications which follow. Daring and surprising for the period in which it was published, Trollope covers topics such as pre-marital sex, illegitimate pregnancy and insanity in this tragic tale of love, duty and loss.