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The Warden
Unknown Binding
Published July 3, 1984
2 people want to read
About the author
Anthony Trollope
2,375 books1,775 followersAnthony Trollope became one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. Some of Trollope's best-loved works, known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, revolve around the imaginary county of Barsetshire; he also wrote penetrating novels on political, social, and gender issues and conflicts of his day.
Trollope has always been a popular novelist. 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, American novelists Sue Grafton and Dominick Dunne 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.
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_...
Trollope has always been a popular novelist. 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, American novelists Sue Grafton and Dominick Dunne 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.
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_...
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
September 11, 2025
The Warden, Septimus Harding, is one of Trollope’s most poignant characters. He is accused of unethically profiting off of a Church-run almshouse for elderly men. The accuser is the Warden's daughter's suitor, Dr. John Bold, a zealous local reformer. The strange mixture of family, ecclesiastical, and legal affairs becomes a hot mess when Harding's abrasive son-in-law, Archdeacon Grantly, leaps into the fray to defend the Warden's (and Church of England's) right to the lucre. Harding simply wants to do the right thing and live out the rest of his life peaceably. He decides that will be impossible, when the story is printed in an influential national newspaper. The article criticizes the Church of England and Warden Harding.
A difficult ethical dilemma is explored from multiple perspectives - each of which has merit - as Harding agonizes over what he should do. While the story is an account of Harding's intensely felt personal drama, family and generational dynamics, and a critique of the self-serving motives of those running the powerful institutions of Church, State, and Press, it is also really funny.
I listened to the audio book, and Simon Vance, the narrator, is excellent.
A difficult ethical dilemma is explored from multiple perspectives - each of which has merit - as Harding agonizes over what he should do. While the story is an account of Harding's intensely felt personal drama, family and generational dynamics, and a critique of the self-serving motives of those running the powerful institutions of Church, State, and Press, it is also really funny.
I listened to the audio book, and Simon Vance, the narrator, is excellent.
Displaying 1 of 1 review