First serialised in the Cornhill Magazine in 1860 before publication as a novel, ‘Framley Parsonage’ is the fourth in the ‘Chronicles of Barsetshire’ series of novels by Anthony Trollope. The young vicar of Framley Mark Robarts has big ambitions. These are soon preyed upon by a corrupt local politician, Nathaniel Sowerby, and Mark must face the consequences that his naïve ambitions have brought upon himself and his young family. An evocative account of Victorian England, ‘Framley Parsonage’ explores family, convention and social status.
Anthony Trollope (1815 – 1882) was a Victorian writer and author of 47 novels. He also wrote an autobiography, short stories and plays, travel articles, reviews and lectures. A prolific writer, he made no secret of the fact that money was his motivation for writing – an admission which raised eyebrows among his literary contemporaries at the time. The amount of works Trollope authored are testament to his belief in hard work. His first successful novel was The Warden followed by its sequel, Barchester Towers. The Chronicles of Barsetshire are perhaps his most well-known series of novels, though many of his works have been adapted for TV and radio, starring many familiar faces such as Alan Rickman, David Tennant, Bill Nighy and Tom Hollander. Alongside his literary career, Trollope also worked for some time for the Post Office and is credited with the introduction of the iconic post box to Britain. A memorial to Anthony Trollope was unveiled in Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey in 1993.
