|
Who is to rule the diocese of Barchester? This is the burning question that shapes Anthony Trollope's comic masterpiece-fanning the flames of ambition, and invading the once-peaceful air of a cathedral town with the spirit of cunning, malice, greed. When the redoubtable Mrs. Proudie and the indomitable Mr. Slope meet the unflinching opposition of the forces of Archdeacon Grantly, the spiritual terrain is transformed into a theater of war. Social calls become skirmishes, parties are arranged like pitched battles. And not even the most innocent can escape the intricate net of stratagems that Trollope weaves in this satiric revelation of mid-Victorian manners and morality. Justly famous for its incisive characterizations and acute social delineation, Barchester Towers offers an engrossing recreation of a captivating age. Robert W. Daniel calls this work "a masterpiece in the grand tradition of English comedy." George Saintsbury judged it "emphatically its author's best novel," and Sir Hugh Walpole commented, "There is in Barchester Towers, I swear, not a dull moment." This is the second of Trollope's novels set in Barsetshire, and, along with the first, The Warden, it is the basis for the highly acclaimed seven-part BBC television production entitled "THE BARCHESTER CHRONICLES."
|
