From AudioFile
Hearing Nigel Hawthorne's reading of The Warden is like attending fine theater. In the opening scenes Septimus Harding's sinecure as warden of Barchester hospital's twelve bedesmen is being questioned by young reformer John BoldÐa situation complicated by Bold's love for the warden's daughter. Hawthorne's portrayals are so vivid that we see the interplay of charactersÐfrom the arrogant archdeacon, Dr. Grantly, and the London lawyer, Sir Abraham Haphazard, to the illiterate stonemason, Abel Handy. In this gentle satire Hawthorne transports us to the predicaments of a mid-nineteenth-century world. And when the curtain falls, we're relieved and delighted that the mild and honorable warden has prevailed. J.H.L. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

FROM THE PUBLISHER

One of the most topical of his books, it tells the story of Mr Harding, an elderly clergyman, warden of an almshouse for old men, who faces a major crisis when his Church sinecure becomes the centre of public controversy. In it Trollope reveals his special genius for satirizing the Church of England. Yet while he wishes to expose an abuse of privilege, he is also vehement in his attack on the reformers - zealous John Bold, Dr Pessimist Anticant and Mr Popular Sentiment. But at the heart of the novel is Mr Harding's private drama of conscience, and in contrasting Harding's moral honesty with the worldliness of his fellow cleric, Archdeacon Grantly, and the hypocrisy of Tom Towers, editor of the crusading Jupiter, Trollope illustates his belief in the value of individual integrity.

SYNOPSIS

When an honest clergyman finds himself charged with financial impropriety by a Fleet Street tabloid, scandal, pathos, and humor result. This 1855 tale from the author’s Barsetshire series features an amusing narrative and cast, realistic dialogue, and a lively plot.

FROM THE CRITICS

AudioFile - Jenny H. Lawrence