22 h 26 minAudiobook15 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 22 h 26 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
In a quiet cathedral town, a bishop’s death sets off a very lively struggle for power.
Archdeacon Grantly expects to succeed his father as bishop of Barchester. Instead, Dr Proudie arrives with a formidable wife and an ambitious chaplain, Mr Slope. Old loyalties come under pressure as the newcomers challenge the cathedral’s habits. Gentle Mr Harding wants peace and honest dealing, but neither side leaves him alone.
Meanwhile, Harding’s daughter Eleanor Bold, a young widow with a child and an income, attracts several admirers. She wants to direct her own life. Around her, love affairs, money troubles and the visiting Stanhope family complicate an already crowded contest. Anthony Trollope turns church politics into warm social comedy, asking what people will do for influence, security and command.
What you’ll discover
- A palace under command Meet Mrs Proudie, whose firm convictions reach into appointments, conduct and the keeping of Sundays.
- Ambition in the pulpit Watch Mr Slope turn a cathedral sermon into an attack on its established ways.
- A widow’s own wishes Follow Eleanor Bold as competing admirers crowd around her wish to choose for herself.
- Unexpected guests and pleasures Enjoy a splendid garden party and the Stanhopes, whose arrival upsets carefully laid plans.
- A narrator beside you Share a direct, companionable voice that finds comedy without losing sympathy for flawed people.
Who will love it
For readers who love social comedy, sharply drawn characters, and love and money tangled with church politics, especially admirers of Jane Austen or Dickens.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A bishop's death opens the contest
- The new bishop arrives with his household
- Mrs Proudie rules and Mr Slope schemes
- A sermon declares open war
- Mr Harding and the old hospital
- The Stanhopes bring Italy to Barchester
- Eleanor Bold and her many admirers
- What the book says about power, faith and money
- How Trollope tells the story
Who’s who
- Mr HardingA gentle, musical clergyman and the cathedral's precentor, he wants peace and honest dealing, but finds himself pulled between the warring parties.
- Archdeacon GrantlyProud, forceful and worldly, he lost the bishopric he expected and fights to keep the old order of the cathedral.
- Mr SlopeThe bishop's clever, pushy chaplain, he wants power, a rich post and perhaps a rich wife, and he uses religion to advance.
- Mrs ProudieThe new bishop's wife, a stern and domineering woman, rules the palace and wants the diocese run on her own strict principles.
- Eleanor BoldMr Harding's daughter, a young widow with a child and an income, she wants to run her own life and is courted by many.
- Mr ArabinA thoughtful Oxford scholar brought in to oppose Mr Slope, he is shy, serious and unsure of his own happiness.
- Signora Vesey NeroniThe crippled, beautiful and witty daughter of Dr Stanhope, she holds court from her sofa and charms the men of Barchester.
- Bertie StanhopeA cheerful, idle and indebted young man, he drifts through life and is urged by his family to marry well.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 22 h 26 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 15 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Le torri di Barchester
by Anthony Trollope · 1857
A new bishop arrives in Barchester, and his wife and ambitious chaplain threaten the cathedral town's old loyalties.
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In short
Barchester Towers is a comic novel by Anthony Trollope, published in 1857. It is the second of six books set in the imaginary English county of Barsetshire, and it follows The Warden, which introduced the same cathedral town and several of the same people.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A bishop's death opens the contest
The story opens in Barchester, a quiet cathedral town where the church is also the main employer, the main club and the main source of gossip. The old bishop, Dr Grantly, lies dying. His son, also Dr Grantly, is the archdeacon, a forceful, worldly and high-minded man who has long expected to follow his father into the palace. Everyone in town knows this, and most of them assume it will happen.
Trollope makes the point that the bishop's illness is also a political event. The government of the day will choose the successor, and the government may change before the old man dies. The archdeacon therefore waits in agony, torn between love for his father and his own ambition. The narrator does not hide that the second feeling is real, and he does not condemn the man for it either.
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What is Barchester Towers about?
It is about a struggle for power in a cathedral town after a new bishop arrives with his strong willed wife and an ambitious chaplain. Love, money and church politics all tangle together in a comic way.
Do I need to read The Warden first?
No. Barchester Towers is the second Barsetshire novel and refers to events in The Warden, but Trollope gives enough background for a new reader. Reading the first book adds some depth, especially to Mr Harding.
Who is Mr Slope in Barchester Towers?
Mr Obadiah Slope is the new bishop's chaplain, an ambitious evangelical clergyman who tries to gain influence over the bishop, win a rich post and perhaps a rich wife. He is the main antagonist of the old clergy.
The author
Anthony Trollope
1815–1882 · English Victorian novelist
Anthony Trollope (1815–1882) was an English novelist. He was born in London, lived in Ireland for many years, and later returned to England. He worked for the Post Office while writing novels. His books include The Warden (1855), Barchester Towers (1857), and Doctor Thorne (1858). He died in London.
More by Anthony Trollope
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