An English convict, Aaron Trow, was sent to the penal colony at Bermuda under a life sentence for murder. He escaped from prison and hid in a remote cave until search for him was abandoned. Driven by hunger, and fearing detection until he could find means to leave the island, he broke into the isolated cottage of Anastasia Bergen, demanding food and money. Terrified by his uncouth appearance and menacing manner, she prepared food for him, but when she failed to provide money he attacked, and nearly murdered her before help came. Caleb Morton, Anastasia's fiance at the risk of his life, cornered Trow in his cave and in a dramatic battle on the rocks and in the sea killed him. Anthony Trollope (24 April 1815 - 6 December 1882) was one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. Some of his best-loved works, collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, revolve around the imaginary county of Barsetshire. He also wrote perceptive novels on political, social, and gender issues, and on other topical matters. Noted fans have included Sir Alec Guinness (who never travelled without a Trollope novel), former British Prime Ministers Harold Macmillan and Sir John Major, economist John Kenneth Galbraith, English judge Lord Denning, American novelists Sue Grafton and Dominick Dunne, artist Edward Gorey, who kept a complete set of his books, American author Robert Caro and soap opera writer Harding Lemay. Trollope's literary reputation dipped somewhat during the last years of his life, but he regained the esteem of critics by the mid-twentieth century.
