leighannhickman

This is truly one of Trollope's best. I've read at least twenty of his novels, and though I don't think anything can top The Way We Live Now, the whole Barchester series is wonderful, and doesn't get half as much attention as it should. I didnt' read The Warden, but I've read all the others, starting with Barchester Towers and ending with this one. The rewards are enormous. Even the minor novels in this series, like Dr. Thorne, are fabulous. Trollope uses his community of characters in such interesting ways--from larger than life villains like Reverend Slope and Mrs. Proudy (a great portrayal of the Minster's wife as alpha female) to minor characters like Griselda Grantly, the vacuous beauty trying to trade looks for money on the marriage market. You even see glances of his next projects, when Plantagenet Palacer shows up in several of these novels, just for a moment. Trollope's take no the clergy in a small town is just spot on. As in THe Way We Live Now, these themes and characters feel remarkably contemporary.

2022-11-14 18:50