The Fixed Period by Anthony Trollope

Immediately upon my finishing Erewhon; Or, Over the Range by Samuel Butler I began reading The Fixed Period by Anthony Trollope.

I had given myself a mission to read dystopian novels thru out April and this would be the final one.

The novel was published in 1882; the story takes place on the fictional island of Britannula in the late 1970's / early 80's. At the time of the book's publication, Great Britain was the dominant world power and with the two world wars far into the future, Trollope had assumed that in the 1980's Britain would have maintained it's dominance.

Following the story line of the novel, Britannula was settled by colonists from New Zealand around 1940 (more or less). The British government took the unprecedented step of granting independence almost immediately.

The first legislative Assembly of the newly formed country consisted mainly of young, energetic men set on establishing a modern state. One of the problems which this young Assembly wished to address was the issue of the aged. It was seen that, although there might be exceptions, the elderly were often faced with illness - physical and mental deterioration. In order to help the elderly live out their last years, a plan for a "Fixed-Period" was put into law.

After much debate, it was determined that upon reaching age 67 each citizen of the country was to be "deposited" into "The College", where he or she would stay for one year, until ultimately being euthanized and subsequently cremated .

Trollope was a very successful writer in his day, although The Fixed Period was his only dystopic novel. I've read several dystopic novels this month, and if I could only recommend one, I would highly recommend this one.

I've since learned that Trollope was best known for a series of novels collectively known as Chronicles of Barsetshire . I've downloaded the entire series which I will begin reading in May.