Nina Balatka: The Story of a Maiden of Prague

This is my first foray into Trollope's works, so I don't know if this is a good one to start off with, especially as it appears Nina Balakta was published anonymously in Blackwood's Magazine by Trollope as an experiment and a departure from his usual style. First lesson I learned: skip past the

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Introduction. If you are like me and hope to experience Trollope's works at your own leisure, the spoiler for his "Barsetshire" books in the second paragraph of introduction was a bit frustrating to encounter. Oh well, as I said, I have now learned my lesson once again to avoid Introductions unless I am well read of the author's works.

At first blush, this is a love story. Not quite Romeo and Juliet but our lovers - Nina and Anton - face their own hurdles for the love match. Trollope presents Prague of the time period and there is a lot of focus in this story on Christian/Jewish relationships and societal prejudices against such inter-faith marriages. Hard when not just the immediate families but their religious communities are set against such a match. Add to this a complication: Anton's family owns the house Nina and her ailing father live in. Anton's request for the deed to the house leads to much misinformation and lack of trust issues. Themes of poverty, antisemitism, societal pressures and isolation flow through this story. While this is my first Trollope read, I get the impression from some searches that Trollope's more popular stories have a lighter, humorous aspect. Trollope presents readers to a strong female lead in Nina. While we get to see inside Nina's thoughts and tumultuous emotions, I felt that the characterization and plot took a bit of a back seat to Trollope's social-religious-economic critique. Overall I found it interesting to see 17th century Prague through Trollope's pen.

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In a departure from his typical English or Irish heroine, Trollope presents readers with Nina Balatka, a poor Czech Catholic woman who cares for her elderly widowed father whose business failures have left them living in a house they no longer own and on the brink of starvation. The house is owned

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by Josef Balatka’s Jewish business partner, Stephen Trendellsohn, whose son Anton has somehow become engaged to Josef’s daughter, Nina. The prospect of an interfaith marriage displeases both families, with Nina’s mother’s relatives, the Zamenoys, determined to prevent the marriage. For the Zamenoys, the end justifies the means, and if lying and cheating will accomplish their goal, they have no scruples about it. The deed to the house occupied by Nina and her father becomes a weapon for both sides, with the Zamenoys using it to try to separate the engaged couple and Anton Trendellsohn using it to force Nina to prove her loyalty to him.

Trollope never explains how the engagement happened. Nina’s part is more understandable. When her own relatives and the church fail to provide either physical or emotional support, it’s no wonder that Nina would respond to love and kindness from someone of another faith. Anton’s motives are more puzzling given the character that Trollope develops for him.

Trollope’s description of the Jewish characters’ physical and personal characteristics reflects the antisemitism of his era. Despite this, Trollope describes synagogue worship practice in a respectful way, and his Jewish characters are better exemplars of a Christian ethic of behavior than are his Christian characters.

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