The Rector's Wife: a moving and compelling novel of sacrifice and self-discovery from one of Britain’s best loved authors, Joanna Trollope

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I could appreciate the sense of relief that Anna felt when her marital meltdown, and writ large, her other crises, were resolved by Peter's death. I know that the book was written in the early 1990's but it did surprise me how unenlightened this couple were about marriage counseling. But maybe it was their own stubbornness and the whole church scandal thing that prevented them from seeking help.

It was a very sad, cop out of an ending. I got so cross with both of them, she didn't support him in his huge disappointment in not getting the top job, she was dismissive and self centred. But at the same time, she had no choice but be self centred because she was disappearing into herself as The Rector's Wife; she was there to do the church stuff but no one, including her family, gave a shit about her as a person. Peter never took the time to ask her why she wanted to work once she discovered she didn't need to pay the school fees. Never asked her anything about herself. They were like complete strangers to each other. And their children were typically messed up because of it. Although getting Flora into a better school may have helped her a little bit. Ann is made to feel that she is worthless by her husband, and should not have feelings or a life of her own. Quite frankly all the way through this story I thought, good lord, I have met vicars just like him, why do they even take this vocation? The new chap, who got the promotion however, is totally lovely, the Priest everyone would love for their own.

a b c "Joanna Trollope: You Ask the Questions". The Independent. 3 February 2005. Archived from the original on 9 June 2022. So read this book if you want to read a nice book about being a Vicars wife, (god bless them all for they suffer dearly) and cheer at the end when she finds her independence. Though, it probably might be a bit evil to cheer and reflect on saying, oh good job, to the bus driver!!!! I thought that the resolution of the story with a car crash killing Peter made sense. I could see that the gossip conveyed by Ella might have been the last straw for him. Not that he actively courted suicide, but when the opportunity presented itself, he decided to act. She has written the first novel in Harper Collins updating of the Jane Austen canon, The Austen Project. Her version of "Sense and Sensibility" was published in October 2013 with limited success. I can't say I enjoyed this book at all, but it was very intriguing (being the daughter of a minister!), and the writing was such that I couldn't put it down.

Story, a C of E Priests wife (Church of England), married 20 years, with three kids, has been worked to the bone as the local Vicars wife. Anna, has been a great mum, and a wife, but after twenty years of living on a pittance, and making do with little Anna is looking forward to her husbands promotion. Having given her all to the church she is dismayed when he has been passed over, and some outsider has been brought in, and given the promotion. Her husband is not a happy camper either. Anna had met Peter during her University days, and though well educated in English and Languages, she has not passed the State exams to teach in local schools. (All through the book I thought, well go take the State exams then...why not try, but that does not appear to be an option). Joanna spent her school days in Surrey, but by her own admission, Joanna is not someone who loved her schooldays. ‘I only really started to enjoy education when I got to university. No school can be blamed, however, it was more my childhood and adolescent sense of being an outsider, of not belonging (a very formative sense, I now know, for being a writer) that made me miserable at a time when 99.9% of children long to conform. But, I was very well taught, however, and I think I sensed this, even then.’ Marrying the Mistress: ″With its sharp eye, light tone and sly, witty pace, Joanna Trollope's ninth novel delivers all the ingredients of romantic comedy, yet ends with a subtle, dark twist.″ [18] From 1965 to 1967, she worked at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. While a civil servant, she researched Eastern Europe and the relations between China and the developing world. [9] From 1967 to 1979, she was employed in a number of teaching posts before she became a writer full-time in 1980.

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For the past two decades, the Bouveries have served God and their parish in a myriad of ways. As minister of his congregation, Peter Bouverie has always written such powerful sermons, preached to the faithful, and counselled so many troubled couples. Everyone in the tiny parish of Loxford also knows of the rector's wife Anna - she is so dutiful, organized, prayerful, and self-possessed. In fact, Anna Bouverie is nothing if not absolutely perfect for the position - she is the quintessential minister's wife. In this book, Anna is the wife of Peter, the rector, in a small English village. As a rector's wife, she is supposed to be beyond reproach and dedicated to her husband. Anna finds herself in a kind of existential and identity crisis as she seeks more for her life than this assigned role. On 14 May 1966, [3] Trollope married a city banker, David Roger William Potter; the couple had two daughters, Antonia and Louise, divorcing in 1983. [2] [10] In 1985, she married the television dramatist Ian Curteis and became a stepmother of his two sons; she and Curteis divorced in 2001. After her second divorce, Trollope moved to West London. [6] She is a grandmother. [4] [21] Trollope appeared on a 1994 edition of Desert Island Discs. Trollope remarked that men often suggested her books were trivial, to which she liked to respond: "It is a grave mistake to think there is more significance in great things than in little things", paraphrasing Virginia Woolf. [22] [23] Bibliography [ edit ] As Joanna Trollope [24] [ edit ] Some of Joanna Trollope's historical novels are re-edited as Caroline Harvey** Historical novels [ edit ] Joanna Trollope CBE ( / ˈ t r ɒ l ə p/ TROL-əp; born 9 December 1943) is an English writer. She has also written under the pseudonym of Caroline Harvey. Her novel Parson Harding's Daughter won in 1980 the Romantic Novel of the Year Award by the Romantic Novelists' Association. [1] Biography [ edit ] Early life [ edit ]

I will say that Trollope has down pat the art of portraying what people are really thinking in any given episode of this book. It can be quite amusing to hear people's inner thoughts so directly. a b Taylor, Jeremy (7 October 2018). "Me and My Motor: the author Joanna Trollope". The Sunday Times . Retrieved 24 March 2019. (subscription required) a b c d e f g Allardice, Lisa (11 February 2006). "Survival tactics". The Guardian . Retrieved 24 March 2019.This had me remembering a friend who was married to a Lutheran Priest, and as I was not a parishioner, she shared much and I always thought, after they had been moved to a different parish, God please help this lady, just have the gumption to leave! Would not quite wish the bus on him though!! (tongue in cheek)! Ella, the busybody, did not seem very put out for having spread false gossip to Peter which led to his demise. She was sad, but she bears a lot of responsibility for his death.