Barchester Towers - Anthony Trollope
First published 1857.
I quite enjoy picking up a book and having no idea what to expect. With older novels this can also extend to not knowing whether an author was well-known in their day or what genre to expect. This is the first Anthony Trollope book I have ever read, and all I knew about him before reading was that I sometimes saw books by him for sale at the annual Founders Park Book Fair in the classics section. With Barchester Towers I had only the cover to give me further insight; the cover has a picture of an elderly clergyman and a woman on the cover, so I felt confident it had something to do with at least one clergyman.
I was right on the clergy front, but what I didn't expect was that Trollope is very funny! Elise will attest that I sniggered or chuckled out loud at various times throughout the book. The book is also the second book in a series, though it reads fine as a stand-alone and is apparently one of Trollope's most popular works.
There are two main plots in Barchester Towers, the first involving the leading clergy of Barchester and their ever-changing power dynamics. Dr Grantly is an archdeacon and the son of the recently deceased Bishop of Barchester. He expects to be made new bishop, but instead that honour goes to an outsider, Dr. Proudie, who arrives in the company of his domineering wife and his somewhat slimy and self-promoting chaplain, Mr. Slope. Dr. Proudie is quite a weak-willed individual, and very quickly Dr. Grantly, Mrs. Proudie and Mr. Slope all begin jostling to be the 'bishop behind the bishop' and influence Dr. Proudie for their own ends. The main focus of this 'war' concerns the appointment of a new warden for Hiram's Hospital. Dr. Grantly promotes the former warden (his reluctant father-in-law, Mr. Harding), while Mrs. Proudie and Mr. Slope promote their own choice, Mr. Quiverful (a poor clergyman with 14 children). Mr. Slope does the dirty work, tricking Mr. Harding into bowing out of the race before it has even begun. However, he then has a change of heart, which is the focus of the second main plotline.
Mr. Harding's younger daughter, Eleanor Bold, is a widow with a young son and a large fortune. When Mr. Slope realises this, soon after having convinced Mr. Harding to turn down the wardenship, he decides that he should marry Eleanor, and begins working to undo his actions so that Eleanor will accept his hand. A second suitor for Eleanor is found in Bertie Stanhope, the good-for-nothing son in a good-for-nothing family, who hopes to win Eleanor's hand in order to cover his debts. Bertie's elder sister Charlotte helps him with this plan, while their younger sister, Madeline Vesey Neroni (a crippled but beautiful woman estranged from her abusive Italian husband) amuses herself by flirting with every man she can find, including Mr. Slope!
There is a lot of set up to these plots, but very quickly Trollope starts having fun with them. Mr. Proudie, for example, will attempt to stand up to his wife at times, but instead of doing so, will receive a passage like: "He felt that if he intended to disapprove, it must be now or never; but he also felt that it could not be now." (page 65). Trollope also keeps the tone closer to 'fun' than 'intrigue' or 'heavy drama' by inserting his voice as an author into the story at times to inform us of what is or isn't going to happen. Most prominently this happens in the chapter where Mr. Slope and Bertie decide to pursue Eleanor. Trollope steps in at the end of the chapter to say: "But let the gentle-hearted reader be under no apprehension whatsoever. It is not destined that Eleanor shall marry Mr. Slope or Bertie Stanhope" (page 112), and then goes on for another page explaining that he would consider it a form of lying to make us think that it was ever possible for Eleanor to do so.
With all these hints about what will or won't happen, Trollope then steps back and allows the plot to unfold at its own pace, laughing with his readers at the ridiculousness of his characters while also insisting that, while he is laughing at them, this is not a reflection of a lack of faith on his own part. He is poking fun at the behaviour of some clergymen, but not seeking to tear down the church as a whole.
The style of Trollope's writing is a product of it's time; this is not a quick or easy read. But it is a very funny Victorian-era light-hearted satire of church politics and romances.
I will definitely check out another Trollope at some point in the future.
Completed 10 September 2023.
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