Bereft of his beloved wife, Glencora, and his role as prime minister, Plantagenet Palliser enters the realm of family politics as he struggles to guide and connect with his three wayward children.

Lord Silverbridge, the Duke's first born and natural inheritor, expelled from Oxford, a gambler at the racetrack and an elected Conservative, further troubles his father when he becomes engaged to Isabel Boncassen, a vibrant and witty American heiress of low social status. Lady Mary, his daughter, falls in love with a penniless young gentleman named Frank Tregear, while his second son, Gerald, displays similar behavior to his brother.

The beleaguered duke must set aside his pride and accept their desires in order to restore happiness and harmony in the Palliser home.

The Duke's Children brings Trollope's Palliser saga to a satisfying conclusion, and is here presented in its entirety, with over 65,000 words restored from the original manuscript by Steven Amarnick, assisted by Robert Wiseman, with Susan Humphreys.