Forest Hill Reading Group News

This month we read The Warden by Anthony Trollope.

The tranquil atmosphere of the cathedral town of Barchester is shattered when a scandal breaks concerning the financial affairs of a Church-run almshouse for elderly men. In the ensuing furore, Septimus Harding, the almshouse’s well-meaning warden, finds himself pitted against his daughter’s suitor Dr. John Bold, a zealous local reformer. Matters are not improved when Harding’s abrasive son-in law, Archdeacon Grantly, leaps into the fray to defend him against a campaign Bold begins in the national press.

Untypically short, yet three years in the making, The Warden has a simple structure that Trollope utilized again and again. Take a moral dilemma of some sort, one that provides endless pros and cons to be argued, one that possibly takes many hundreds of pages to resolve, explore its social, political and financial implications, and show how it touches the lives of characters not too unlike ourselves.

The dilemma here concerns the income of Septimus Harding, the Warden of Barchester. Under the terms of a will, dated 1434, twelve superannuated wool carders were to be accommodated in an almshouse, receiving one shilling and fourpence per day. A residence was to be provided for a warden who was to receive the income from the remainder of the testator’s property. Now, more than 400 years later, there seems to be an imbalance in these depositions. The almshouse inmates continue to receive only one shilling and fourpence, while the warden, living on the proceeds of some valuable properties, receives eight hundred pounds annually and the use of the warden’s house.

Comments from reading group members include:

“It had a charm I didn’t see to begin with.”

“The themes are topical in terms of the press, the media and government – you could substitute the banks for the church as the major power.”

Another member made reference to the cynical tone heard throughout the book and also commented on the fact that the warden tends to use different language with the individual characters, usually defined by their social status; he uses simplistic language with the lower classes and convoluted language with characters like the archbishop.

Overall, the group enjoyed the book and found the themes interesting to discuss.  

Read the Manor House Library Saturday Reading Group’s review of The Warden.

July’s chosen novel is The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
Tuesday 12^th June 2011, 6.30-7.30pm
Forest Hill Library

Have you read this book? Let us know your thoughts.