I've been in a Joanna Trollope phase lately, having read "Other People's Children" and "Best of Friends" and loving them both. This earlier title did not appeal to me as much, although I enjoyed it more towards the end of the story. The other two titles seemed simpler and yet somehow more complete and less contrived. Perhaps its just the growth of the author's talents.

It did seem a bit much that suddenly, after living as the rector's wife for so many years, Anna was both fed up with her life and attracting the attention of multiple men. She barely interacted with Patrick, the rich city man who decides he's mad about her.

However, I did enjoy the descriptions of English country life and applauded Anna's meager attempts to break the ties that bound her. The fury over her taking a job at a supermarket is priceless. One of Trollope's strongest suits is the way all of her character's actions affect their entire families. As in life, all decisions have fallout, and Trollope is a master at making that clear. Not her best, but worth a read.

I read the book before I saw the Masterpiece Theatre version - and I'm glad I did. Couldn't put it down. The author has created believable and an unforgettable story. If you enjoy reading about life in an English village - and I do - then The Rector's Wife is good choice for you.

Having read just about all of Joanna Trollope's wonderful books, I have come to regard "The Rector's Wife" as her very best, for so many reasons.

For those of us who have ever felt the despair of knowing that love alone cannot save a marriage; for those of us who have been drawn into a loved-one's depression and cannot break free; and for any mother alive who has had a hurting, unpopular child--this book describes feelings that are impossible to put into words.

Anna Bouverie (yes, I see the parallel to Madame Bovary, but Anna has more soul) is the wife of a village rector. Her life is rigidly circumscribed by the expectations of her husband's parisioners. Thus, it is important that she head certain "rotas" (I love that word; British for "rotations," meaning committee members who take turns doing church chores). It is imperative that she appear impeccable in her clothing, her behavior, her mothering, and just about everything else. This is not easy, as her stolid, dogmatic husband Peter makes such a paltry living that their children have to wear parishioners' second-hand giveaways. In fact, the Bouveries are living in a kind of static hell, although nobody but poor, miserable schoolgirl Flora seems to realize it, and her perceptions are all about being a misfit in her horrid school.

Peter and Anna are sustained by a bright vision of the future: Peter hopes to be named archdeacon, which will change their circumstances considerably. The bitter loss of this hope is the catalyst that eventually destroys Peter--and sets Anna free.

As Peter sinks inexorably into a deep, surly depression, Anna's attempts to reach him, to connect as they did when their marriage was young, are angrily rebuffed. On her own, metaphorically at least, Anna, desperate to remove Flora from the hated school and place her in another where she can thrive, takes a practical step. She gets a job stacking shelves in a supermarket, so she can earn enough money to pay for the new school.

The outraged gossip from a secretly delighted parish (not only is the rector's wife working; but she is placing their child in a Catholic school! Horrors!) Peter's icy, enraged reaction, and Anna's rebirth as a woman form the crux of the rest of the story. Events simply evolve, unstoppable and unpreventable, even as they race to their (...)conclusion.

I love this book. I love the truth of it. I love Trollope's eye for rural British life; I love her characterizations; I love her understated and measured style of writing. If you only read one Joanna Trollope book, make this the one.

In "The Choir," Trollope focuses on a village that has to deal with change. The cathedral choir, that was established in the 1500s, is threatened by lack of money and, perhaps, by the sense that the choir may not be all that relevant anymore in a changing society. The people in the village respond in very different ways to the situation, all the while preoccupied with their own personal dramas. The idea of the relevance of traditional values is very interesting. But at the same time, it takes away at times from the close observation and character development that usually makes Trollope's novels so much fun to read. There is so much going on in this novel, and there are so many major characters, that it's hard to feel connected to any of them. To me, Trollope is much better when she narrows her scope to a smaller group of people, as she did for example in "The Men and the Girls." "The Choir" is just as well-written as anything else Trollope has done, but she doesn't allow the characters room to develop, and the effect of that is that they all stay flat. If she had halved the number of significant characters, this book would have been much better.

the novel, which deals with church politics and life in a small community. I agree that the number of characters reduces the depth in which each is presented, but this is a technique deliberately chosen, as with Dickens, when socio-ecclesiastical-political matters are at the forefront. 'The Choir' is a well-written novel, an enjoyable read, with more serious concerns which never bog it down in authorial pontification.

Joanna Trollope introduces us to a small British city with a cathedral that dates back to before Henry VIII and all that goes in making this building a living, breathing entity. Trollope does a fine job of setting the mood in the first few pages.

As one would suspect, caring for a building which was first built in the 15 or 16th century requires a great deal of funds. Unfortunately the structure has not stood the test of time and major reconstruction is needed to save the building. Where to get the money for this not-inexpensive undertaking is the task that the dean of the Cathedral faces. The political manuverings to save the structure are all consuming for this man. He will do almost anything to keep the building but what he has forgotten is that it will be just that - a building, but one without a soul. The soul of the cathedral is it's choir and it is this that the dean proposes to dispense with to divert funds from the upkeep of the choir to the upkeep of the building. What he doesn't bargin for it the opposition of this idea that erupts from the cathedral school in the form of the headmaster and a few long time members of the school board and the choirmaster.

The opposition is quite an interesting group, from the headmaster who is a respectable priest married to an independent and strong-willed woman, to the choirmaster who is divoreced and at the school at all, only by good fortune and the suffereance of the dean of the cathedral. Their professional and personal lives are quite well detailed and totally beliveable. I found myself wondering who the models for these charecters were.

We see town politics interjected as well as the grandfather of one of the boys has set his eye on obtaining church property for use by town as a social service office. He is portrayed as a late in years Labourite, still at war with elitest organizations and sees the church as a prime example of this class distinction. Set in the height of Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government in Britain, it is a small scale depiction of the events that took place throughout the country as Conservatism rearranged the social fabric of the country.

Trollope does a masterful job of taking a subject that is little known in this country, the Anglican Church, and introducing us to this organization. She also makes her characters believable and interesting. I found myself unable to leave the book - it bears the scars of being read while I was inhaling both the book and fast foods. I first read the book several years ago and have read several times since then. It is a book I never tire of reading and discover things I missed each time I do. I highly recommend this book to all with an interest in the social and religious fabric of Great Britain.