The Rector's Wife (Hardcover)

For those of us who have ever felt the despair of knowing that love alone cannot save a marriage; for those of us who have been drawn into a loved-one's depression and cannot break free; and for any mother alive who has had a hurting, unpopular child--this book describes feelings that are impossible to put into words.

Anna Bouverie (yes, I see the parallel to Madame Bovary, but Anna has more soul) is the wife of a village rector. Her life is rigidly circumscribed by the expectations of her husband's parisioners. Thus, it is important that she head certain "rotas" (I love that word; British for "rotations," meaning committee members who take turns doing church chores). It is imperative that she appear impeccable in her clothing, her behavior, her mothering, and just about everything else. This is not easy, as her stolid, dogmatic husband Peter makes such a paltry living that their children have to wear parishioners' second-hand giveaways. In fact, the Bouveries are living in a kind of static hell, although nobody but poor, miserable schoolgirl Flora seems to realize it, and her perceptions are all about being a misfit in her horrid school.

Peter and Anna are sustained by a bright vision of the future: Peter hopes to be named archdeacon, which will change their circumstances considerably. The bitter loss of this hope is the catalyst that eventually destroys Peter--and sets Anna free.

As Peter sinks inexorably into a deep, surly depression, Anna's attempts to reach him, to connect as they did when their marriage was young, are angrily rebuffed. On her own, metaphorically at least, Anna, desperate to remove Flora from the hated school and place her in another where she can thrive, takes a practical step. She gets a job stacking shelves in a supermarket, so she can earn enough money to pay for the new school.

The outraged gossip from a secretly delighted parish (not only is the rector's wife working; but she is placing their child in a Catholic school! Horrors!) Peter's icy, enraged reaction, and Anna's rebirth as a woman form the crux of the rest of the story. Events simply evolve, unstoppable and unpreventable, even as they race to their (...)conclusion.

I love this book. I love the truth of it. I love Trollope's eye for rural British life; I love her characterizations; I love her understated and measured style of writing. If you only read one Joanna Trollope book, make this the one.