The Warden

The central place in the works of Anthony Trollope is occupied by the cycle "The Chronicles of Barsetshire," the action of which unfolds in the fictional town of Barchester and its surroundings. "The Warden" is the first of the six Barsetshire chronicles. The Warden Septimus Harding oversees the welfare of the elderly residents of the church almshouse and manages its income. His peaceful and measured life comes to an end when the fervent reformer John Bold, a suitor of Septimus's daughter, launches a campaign against what he perceives as the unfair distribution of the almshouse funds and inadvertently turns society's and the press's anger against his potential father-in-law. This collection also includes the stories "The Two Heroines of Plumpington" and "A Souvenir for the Memory of General SHASSEE."