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Product Description
Product Description
The book centers on the character of Mr. Harding, a clergyman of great personal integrity, whose charitable income far exceeds the purpose for which it was intended. Young John Bold turns his reforming zeal to exposing what he considers to be an abuse of privilege, despite being in love with Mr. Harding's daughter Eleanor. The novel was highly topical as a case regarding the misapplication of church funds was the scandalous subject of contemporary debate. But Trollope uses this specific case to explore and illuminate the universal complexities of human motivation and social morality. This edition includes an introduction and notes by David Skilton and illustrations by Edward Ardizzone.
About the Author
Anthony Trollope (1815-82) became one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. Some of Trollope's best-loved works revolve around the imaginary county of Barsetshire, but he also wrote penetrating novels on political, social, and gender issues and conflicts of his day.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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5.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable Moral Tale, May 1 2012
By John - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Warden (Paperback)
I had never read Trollope before, though I'd heard good things about him for years. The thing that held me back was that I like to read things in order, and in this case, reading things in order meant starting with a novel that seems almost universally to be considered...so-so. The Warden is just considered the book that Trollope got started with before finding his feet in Barchester Towers. Still, it's highly recommended that you not skip this one, unless you miss out on knowing characters in his later novels.Quite a quandary, obviously. All of those later novels sounded so good, and to get to them, I had to go through this dull one. I'm not sure what got into me one day, but I ended up picking up The Warden to try it out, and do you know what? It was good. And it didn't just exceed my low expectations. It was just really good.
The story concerns a clergyman, Mr. Harding (one of the more pleasant characters in Victorian literature), who has enjoyed a comfortable income. John Bold, a young political reformer, happens to discover that Harding's income seems excessive, more than was intended in the founding of the estate, and seeks to have the matter looked into. The problem is that John is engaged to Harding's daughter Eleanor, and John's well-intentioned efforts at reform threaten to ruin all of their happiness.
It's really a pleasant and thoughtful comedy of manners. Admirable characters are placed into complex moral situations, and it is fascinating and entertaining to watch how they deal with them. It's a really satisfying plot, with full-fleshed characters and something to think about. I will admit that there are moments when you might realize that this is Trollope's first novel. He can go on page-after-page long tangents, railing at such things as newspapers, for instance. Though these moments can be drawn out and frustrating, they are certainly not long or painful enough to miss this book. It's actually a very fine read, despite its reputation, and I look forward a lot to exploring more of what Trollope has to offer. If this is Trollope at his weakest, I can only imagine the wonderful things that he must have written at his peak.
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