Thomas Love Peacock, Gryll Grange

James Mulvihill (University of Alberta)
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Thirty years separate Thomas Love Peacock's last novel,

Gryll Grange

(1861), from his other novels. A number of factors help to explain this three-decade silence – among them Peacock's duties at the East India House where he had succeeded James Mill in 1836 as director of the Examiner's Office. His mother had died in 1833 – afterwards, according to a friend, “he wrote with little interest” – and Peacock was left alone to care for an invalid wife and three children, two of whom he survived. Yet the typical Peacockian format of

Gryll Grange

remains intact: an idyllic country-house setting, a genial host, many opinionated guests, and a romantic live interest. If somewhat dated in this respect, the novel was favourably received by reviewers, one of them remarking that “The volume…

1222 words

Citation: Mulvihill, James. "Gryll Grange". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 March 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=9867, accessed 19 March 2024.]

9867 Gryll Grange 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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