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The Warden (Chronicles of Barsetshire, #1)

Anthony Trollope

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Chronicles of Barsetshire

* The Series
By Elizabeth (Al… · 16 posts · 173 views

last updated Jan 12, 2014 04:31PM

Last Chronicle of Barset (possible minor spoiler)
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last updated Nov 12, 2021 11:41AM

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What Members Thought

Jan 18, 2023 Laura (Reading is a Doing Word) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2023-read, classics-trad-and-modern, trollope

This is the first book in the Barsetshire series, my first Trollope and the beginning of a yearlong Trollope readathon!

The Warden is a slow read. It's a gentle book, despite the main character experiencing some major life upheavals, the drama is conveyed in a somewhat detached manner and Mr Harding, the Warden's inner turmoil, although it feels distressing never really had me too worried for him.

The story centres around Mr Septimus Harding, warden of an alms-house who comes under scrutiny from r This is the first book in the Barsetshire series, my first Trollope and the beginning of a yearlong Trollope readathon!

The Warden is a slow read. It's a gentle book, despite the main character experiencing some major life upheavals, the drama is conveyed in a somewhat detached manner and Mr Harding, the Warden's inner turmoil, although it feels distressing never really had me too worried for him.

The story centres around Mr Septimus Harding, warden of an alms-house who comes under scrutiny from reformer John Bold. Bold deems the Warden's salary incommensurate with the income of the charity he represents and implies that he draws his salary at the expense of the men he looks after.
What ensues is a wrangle between reformers, the church, the law, the press and personal interest and conscience.

There's a lot from the Warden that could be applied to the world today - the power of the press to vilify public figures and the lack of accountability on their part; the conflict between public and private personas; the compromise between the letter of the law and moral justice; the unforeseen consequences of zealous reform compared with settled establishment; the concept of innocents as collateral damage.

Mr Harding is a meek and submissive man, usually dominated by his overbearing son-in-law Dr Grantly, the Archdeacon. Grantly represents the infallible belief in the institution of the church without embodying its better values. Harding comes into his own however, when he feels doubt about the justice of his position and here his true moral character shines through and allows him to stand up for himself and what he believes is right.

The aspects of this story that stuck with me were the friendship between the Warden and the Bishop, the Warden's personal sense of justice and the manipulation of the poor bedesmen.

The idea of shortsighted reform with no contingency plan really stood out. The occupants of the alms-house are caught up in the fervour of reform, the promise of wealth, the interests of the solicitors and the frenzy of the press. No one really cares for them individually or in the long term, and they end up worse off with the charity itself no longer operating efficiently.
This result begs the question - what was the real aim of all those involved? To better the lot of the bedesmen or to seek personal glory in the pursuit of a "cause"?

In the end I loved the Warden and the Bishop was let down by most of those surrounding them. I'm interested to see which of these characters reappear in the rest of the series and how they conduct themselves. An interesting introduction to Barsetshire!

SOME QUOTES
"You are going to make yourself, and her, and her father miserable. You are going to make us all miserable. And for what? For a dream of justice. You will never make those twelve men happier than they now are."

"The bishop had no further argument to adduce; he could not fight for the cause as his son would do; he could not prove all the precentor's doubts to be groundless; but he could sympathise with his friend, and he did so; and Mr Harding felt that he had received that for which he came."
...more

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Apr 16, 2025 Lisa (NY) rated it really liked it

Shelves: classics-19th-century-earlier, audiobook, 2025tbrshelf

[3.5] The Warden surprised me. After reading all the Palliser novels and the standalone, The Way We Live Now, I expected a more tangled, gossipy novel. It's a fairly straightforward, streamlined novel, focusing on Mr. Harding's moral dilemma. I liked it very much-I particularly enjoyed the narrator's commentary. I did miss the intricate meanderings of Trollope's longer works. Onward to the other Barchester novels! ...more

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Aug 08, 2020 Tom Britz rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I found The Warden to be a very good read. I'd heard that it was boring and tedious, but I didn't find it so. I enjoyed the characters and the plot moved forward at all times. Of course it doesn't read like a modern novel in that there are many references to things and events that were current at that time or that were still being referred to and were common knowledge. I found Mr. Harding to be a stalwart and a fully fleshed out character, for that time. In today's world, and even in his time, p ...more

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Oct 01, 2022 Martin Suter rated it it was amazing

The central figure in this book,Septimus Harding is one of Trollopes more sympathetic characters. An innocent who is determined to do the right thing as the Warden of an almshouse in the fictional cathedral city of Barchester. His travails are set against a background of church politics,family honour,power of the press,ambition and greed.
I think this book is a good start for those unfamiliar with Trollope's work. ...more

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Jan 22, 2021 Rebecca Long Okura rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction-classics

Years ago, I tried to read The Warden and didn’t enjoy it. I don’t think I even finished it. But then I read Barchester Towers and really thought it was very good. Great female characters in particular. Interesting, fun, sly. Just great. So I went back and read The Warden again since it is the prequel to Barchester T. I liked it so much better this time. However, really as a stand alone novel it just doesn’t cut it for me. As the beginning of the 6 novels making up the Chronicles, it has its rol ...more

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