January 7, 2018

Anthony Trollope illustration by Spy in Vanity FairHunting Sketches by Anthony Trollope was published in 1865 and contained eight chapters, including "The Man Who Hunts and Doesn’t Like It," "The Man Who Hunts and Does Like It," and the six chapters that follow. Here is "The Lady Who Rides to Hounds" from this classic by Trollope.

Among those who hunt there are two classes of hunting people who always like it—hunting parsons and hunting ladies. That it should be so is natural enough. In the life and habits of parsons and ladies there is much that is antagonistic to hunting, and they who suppress this antagonism do so because they are Nimrods at heart. But the riding of these horsemen under difficulties, horsemen and horsewomen, leaves a strong impression on the casual observer of hunting; for to such an one it seems that the hardest riding is forthcoming exactly where no hard riding should be expected. On the present occasion I will, if you please, confine myself to the lady who rides to hounds, and will begin with an assertion, which will not be contradicted, that the number of such ladies is very much on the increase.

Book Review by Lori Brunnen

Tally Ho Palm Beach, Paul Striberry, Orange Publishing, Southern Pines, NC, 2017, 228 pages, paperback ($15.95) and Kindle ($9.95)Real Estate agent Alice Pleasance Liddell literally “runs into” the local Palm Beach Hunt at the beginning of this oddly charming romp of a book. This chance encounter plunges Alice headfirst into the social whirl of the affluent, and not so affluent hunt members.

After meeting the Master’s gentle son Clayton she realizes the Hunt is deeply in debt to...well, everyone. All as a result of...wait for it...a Seminole curse. Amid hounds, hunting, and horses, Alice is determined to save both the hunt country and restore Everglades Hall. Oh, and reverse the Indian curse. All while awash in the whirl of hunt balls, races, and polo matches.