The Warden
In the cathedral city of Barchester, Rev. Septimus Harding serves as warden of Hiram's Hospital, an almshouse founded to care for twelve elderly wool-carders. He is not a wicked man. He says his prayers, plays his violoncello, and means no harm to anyone. But when young idealist John Bold discovers that Harding receives hundreds of pounds while the men under his care receive only pennies, he sees only injustice. Bold launches a reform campaign to expose the imbalance, unaware that he's threatening not a villain but a gentle old man, and not just any man - the father of the woman he loves. Trollope's genius lies in refusing to give us villains: the reformer is earnest, the warden is decent, and the truth sits somewhere in the uncomfortable middle. This is a novel about how good intentions collide with messy reality, and how much easier it is to demand justice than to understand it.
Editions
X-Ray
“What on earth could be more luxurious than a sofa, a book, and a cup of coffee?...Was ever anything so civil?””
— Anthony Trollope
“Did you ever know a poor man made better by law or a lawyer!' said Bunce bitterly.””
— Anthony Trollope
“She had no startling brilliancy of beauty, no pearly whiteness, no radiant carnation. She had not the majestic contour that rivets attention, demands instant wonder, and then disappoints by the coldness of its charms. You might pass Eleanor Harding in the street without notice, but you could hardly pass an evening with her and not lose your heart.””
— Anthony Trollope
“He took such high ground that there was no getting on to it.””
— Anthony Trollope
“They say that faint heart never won fair lady. It is amazing to me how fair ladies are won, so faint are often men's hearts!””
— Anthony Trollope
“A clergyman generally dislikes being met in argument by any scriptural quotation; he feels as affronted as a doctor does, when recommended by an old woman to take some favourite dose.””
— Anthony Trollope
“He (The warden) was painfully afraid of a disagreement with any person in any subject....he felt horror at the thought of being made the subject of common gossip and public criticism.””
— Anthony Trollope
“What had passed between Eleanor Harding and Mary Bold need not be told. It is indeed a matter of thankfulness that neither the historian nor the novelist hears all that is said by their heroes or heroines, or how would three volumes or twenty suffice!””
— Anthony Trollope
“He never quarreled with his wife, but he never talked to her;--he never had time to talk, he was so taken up with speaking.””
— Anthony Trollope
