Even Mrs Grantly eventually takes to the conflict with as much gusto as her husband, despite usually being the very picture of amiability. But the rift also brings about some very good things and not just in terms of comedic value: to me, there is nothing so delightful as watching Dr Grantly and Mr Harding being drawn closer together in understanding and friendship as their battle against the palace continues and they become co-conspirators against their bishop, wading deep into ecclesiastical politics. The entire sixth chapter (entitled “War”) details the beginnings of the conflict between the Grantlyite and Proudieite forces and is a masterpiece.

The bishop is masterfully aided in his work by his eloquent chaplain, Mr Slope, who, in combination with Mrs Proudie in particular, hopes to pursue an agenda completely counter to everything Dr Grantly and Mr Harding believe.ĭr Grantly’s outrage on meeting this offensive trio only made me love him more (and I was wildly fond of him after reading The Warden). Proudie, whose greatest accomplishment is as the conduit for church reformers and the forceful Mrs. Bishop Grantly times his death poorly, waiting just long enough for the government that would have favoured replacing him with his son to pass out of power. The problem of who to appoint as the warden of Hiram’s Hospital continues but that appointment pales in comparison to some of the more august clerical vacancies that come up during the course of this novel, beginning with the greatest position of all in Barsetshire: the bishop. I had enjoyed my introduction to Trollope’s Barsetshire with The Warden but it was immediately clear I was going to enjoy this much, much more. On Christmas Eve, after the festivities of the day had drawn to a close, I curled up in the living room amidst the shreds of papers and bows that had had flown when a few hours earlier gifts were being unwrapped, cracked open Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope and immediately found myself with Dr Grantly and Mr Harding at the deathbed of Bishop Grantly.

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