Customer Reviews

The Rector's Wife

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

The beautiful Anna Bouverie (echoes of Madame Bovary) has lived for twenty years as the wife a poorly paid rural rector and mother to their two children. Her half-hearted approach to tasks at church disappoints the meddlesome, but well-intentioned, ladies of the church committee.

When her husband is turned down for a much-needed promotion, Anna takes matters into her own hands. In order to raise money for her daughter's private school tuition and her son's road trip to India, Anna takes on a job at the local supermarket. To the consternation of the church ladies, the outrage of her husband, the embarrassment of her son, and her own personal delight, she keeps the job even after her money woes are lightened by the award of a scholarship to her daughter.

The job begins a broadening of Anna's perspective that extends beyond produce and canned goods. As she attracts both the notice and the desire of several men, she turns to one for the affection that is missing from her relationship with her husband.

Although it has its share of sadness and tragic turns, overall this is a story of personal growth and self discovery. Trollope's lucid prose and incisive characterizations make the book a pleasure to read.

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.

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.

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.

This is a wonderfully written British book, with brilliant descriptions of villiage life and deeply developed characterizations. While I liked it very much, there were things that bothered me about it too. First, the British style of writing greatly slowed down the reading process for me. Secondly, there were many times when I just wanted to shake some sense into Anna. While she was taking baby steps towards her independence, she still remained too passive to her domineering and coldly disinterested husband. For example, allowing him to bully her into quitting the grocery job she loved.

Anna was too concerned with appearances, and how things looked to the very uncharitable, very un-Christian-like members of her husband's congregation who didn't appreciate the assets of a passionate and giving woman like Anna. If my neighbors volunteered to clean my house, organize my chores, and take over mundane tasks and responsibilites that I hated and resented doing, freeing up time to be more dedicated to my children (Luke in particular seemed so desperately neglected) and to things I truly enjoyed, I would be elated....I certainly wouldn't complain or feel inadequate because I couldn't please all people all the time.

I suppose I took this novel more personally than the author intended because I related almost too closely with her feelings of extreme loneliness and not being valued as a woman by her family and peers.

I also thought the ending could have been better. I thought the way she escaped from her marriage was too convenient, and the other men who came into her life could have been handled differently.

(PS: If you really liked this book, try The Sunday Wife by Cassandra King)

I typically avoid contemporary British authors, finding them too provincial, or worse, cutesy for my American palate. I picked up "The Rector's Wife" because the title reminded me of one of my favorite movies, "The Bishop's Wife", not expecting to find between its modest paper covers, a modern literary classic. I have revisited Anna Bouverie and her world many times since, and I never find a word that rings false. In her creation of a modern English village, and a dying middle-class marriage, Joanna Trollope's aim is absolutely true. In Anna, Trollope creates a character that haunts the reader with her authenticity; she could be anyone's daughter, sister or friend putting a bright outward face on the wreck of a stifling marriage while soldiering bravely on. Although our sympathies lie with Anna, she is not always an easy person to like; her acid tongue and occasional temper tantrums bring a very human dimension to her character, which saves her from being merely a cardboard rendering of the blameless, wronged wife. I'm not sure Trollope would agree, but it seems to me that Anna brings a great deal of unhappiness upon herself by her tardy realization that she made a hasty marriage to a man who was utterly wrong for her. Faced with this knowledge, too late, she chooses a self-serving path. Because the story is mostly from Anna's point of view, her husband Peter comes out much the worse for it; he is seen through Anna's eyes as the instigator of all of her misery, even though he is also victimized in his own way by marriage to Anna, who turns out to be both much more and much less than he bargained for as his wife. Despite Peter's prominent position in the story, he is more one-dimensional than many of the minor characters that populate the village of Loxford. Trollope's final solution to the problem of Anna's unsatisfactory marriage is likewise unsatisfactory--a sort of deus ex machina that absolves Anna of the consequences of her actions. While we hope all along for Anna's happiness, the way it is finally achieved I think mars the book and Anna, too. If Trollope only means to say that every woman has her price, then she succeeds. In the meantime, Anna is a fascinating character study, and all her supporting players are sharply,and in many cases, delightfully drawn. I recommend this book to anyone who labors under the illusion that life in a bucolic English village must be heaven on earth, and more importantly, to anyone who has doubts about the suitability of a potential or current mate. This book could be used, quite effectively, as a manual for marriage counseling, since it is a case study for the importance of open communication and shared goals within a marriage, and the fallout when two partners are not completely honest with one another. Anna's story will remain with you long after you have finished the last page.

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.

Joanna Trollope developed the character of Anna beautifully. By the time she took her supermarket job, I was in love with her character. What drove me mad was that, for 200 pages, Ms. Trollope built an atmosphere of sexual tension. When Anna finally found "release", it was done hurriedly, in all of 2 paragraphs, and was dreadfully disappointing. I had followed this character through life-shattering trials, and was cheated in one clumsily written scene. Other reviewers have already pointed out the dissapointment of the ending, which convienently avoided a showdown between the two main characters over the central conflict of the book. Overall, I loved the character development and descriptions of country life, but hated the handling of love interests and the ending.

This is story that keeps you interested -- I was amazed at how well the author captured the story of two people who really didn't know each other -- I have compassion for anyone who has to live in a marriage like this one!