Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope (Literary Guild, 1945)

 

Barchester Towers is set in the upper echelons of the clerical world in Barchester, a fictitious cathedral city in England.  A spineless new Bishop arrives to the consternation of the Warden and the Archdeacon, and upsets the status quo.  He is controlled by his formidable wife, Mrs. Prudie, and his revoltingly ambitious Chaplain, Dr. Slope.  A triangularized romantic plot centering around an independent and wealthy young widow (the Archdeacon's daughter) allows happy endings for all the good characters, and appropriate come-uppences for all the bad.

Perhaps because the edition I read (published by the Literary Guild in 1945) featured several cartoonish color illustrations (by Donald McKay), this book seemed considerably less  nuanced and complex than other Trollope novels (especially the Palliser novels), and therefore less satisfying -- but entertaining and fun to read nonetheless.

illustration by Donald McKay