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The Warden  By  cover art

The Warden

By: Anthony Trollope
Narrated by: Margaret Hilton
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Editorial reviews

In Anthony Trollope’s early novel - the first in his six-part Chronicles of Barchester series - Barchester is a fictional cathedral town in mid-19th-century England. While most of Barchester’s inhabitants are happy at the novel’s start, the town is caught between its feudal past and its more socially and politically fragile future.

Under the sway of Margaret Hilton’s high British dialect, the listener is introduced to the traditionalists Septimus Harding and his son-in-law, Archdeacon Grantly, and to John Bold, a reformer who works on behalf of the poor. In the ensuing stand-off, a host of philosophically loaded characters are brought under the satiric and conservative vision of one of England’s foremost chroniclers of change.

Publisher's summary

Trollope's classic novel features Reverend Septimus Harding, the elderly warden of the Barchester alms-house, which provides charity for the town's neediest citizens. However, for a man devoting himself to helping the poor, Reverend Harding's salary is rather lucrative. Aiming to ease his conscience and quiet his neighbors' whispers, he decides to divest himself of all the income he earns at the alms-house. But instead of making his life easier, Reverend Harding's decision causes unforeseen complications. The first of his Barsetshire series, this novel provides a detailed, gently satirical portrayal of 19th century British life.

Don't miss the sequel, Barchester Towers (Unabridged).
Public Domain (P)1988 Recorded Books, Inc.

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    1 out of 5 stars

The Warden

This recording is almost impossible to understand. The sound quality is muffled and indistinct. The highest quality download is "2." I gave up trying to listen after 30 minutes.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Don't buy this

The audio is entirely unsatisfactory, the recording is from 1988, poorly transferred and the title should be dropped. The sample is not reflective of the quality of this title, I couldn't listen for ten minutes.

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8 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars

Barsetshire #1

“Did you ever know a poor man made better by law or a lawyer!' said Bunce bitterly.”
- Anthony Trollope, The Warden

Such a lovely social novel. Trollope sets up a series of characters and a situation and you know that Warden Septimus Harding, Archdeacon Grantly, and John Bold are set to collide and that the reforms of Dr Bold or the conservatism of Archdeacon Grantly will help the Warden. I loved the Warden of this story. I love his morality, his humility, his simpleness. I love Trollope's criticisms of the Church of England (and its clergy) and the excesses of reform. I love his take on the Press. But it is a gentle novel. There are no demons in Trollope's novel and no saints. There are men who make mistakes and overshoot the mark. Men who start a ball rolling and are unable to see where it will lead. There are women too. The women are fully formed and not just side notes.

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2 people found this helpful