The Rector's Wife

Joanna Trollope, I believe, simply creates the best and most believable characters in all of post-modern fiction. The characters who people "The Rector's Wife" are no exception: the suffocating Anna, the bitter, self-pitying Peter, the nosy, gossipy, well-meaning (or are they?) ladies of the parish are all drawn so tightly and vividly, with such a fine acknowledgment of both the good and rotten sides of the human character, it's no wonder this book is such a gripping story. I suppose it isn't unusual to find a coming-of-age novel about a woman in her forties, but Trollope's is so different. Anna is one of the most likeable characters I've ever gotten to know in the pages of a book, and her level of burn-out with all the petty intricacies of being the wife of the village rector, plus her desire to be a good mother and even a good wife to her self-absorbed husband, and then even try as she can to be a good Christian and do the right and honorable thing, all while having the sense of completely losing her own identity...well, it all makes for a very good story. Anna's struggles for independence and her small victories and disconcerting losses will make you feel a compassion you might not have ever thought you could feel for someone who is, after all, a character in a book. Joanna Trollope has a stunning talent. Read every single one of her books. Go on, hurry up!

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.

of a village rector, who breaks out of her drab life, taking a job (horrors) in a supermarket to find a sense of self worth. In the process, she attracts the attentions of three unusual people! While reading this, I found myself wanting to "cheer" for Anna. Excellent portrayal of typical "narrow minded" British parish life.

All I can say is I love this book so much and have read it about five times. More than the story of a rector's wife, it's the story of a sensitive, caring woman trying to keep all the needs of her family together and yet care for them in her own way...in this case taking a job so she can send her daughter to private school. The small act of this job is a terrible affront to the wage earning of her husband and the small English parish. Her children are so real and so is her life. It deeply deeply touches me. There are not many books I read so often, but this is one of them.

I found this book uplifting beyond comment - although Anna's personal turmoil, her claustrophobic environment, and the tragedy of the story don't necessarily support the word "uplifting", Anna's determination, willingness to grow and escape limitations, and her unspoken desire to know life as Divine was just what my own hungry soul needed to read. Trollope has once again presented a real woman from the very inside out.