Barchester Towers. Anthony Trollope. 2003.

After the death of Dr Grantley, a bitter struggle begins over who will succeed him as Bishop of Barchester. Nd when the decision is finally made to appoint the evangelical Dr Proudie, rather than the sun of the old bishop, Archdeacon Grantley, resentment and suspicion threaten to cause deep divisions within the diocese. Trollope’s masterly depiction of the plotting and back-stabbing that ensue lies at the heart of one of the most vivid and comic of his Barsetshire novels, peopled by such very different figures as the saintly warden of Hiram’s Hospital, Septimus Harding, the ineffectual but well-meaning new bishop and his terrifying wife, and the oily chaplain Mr Slope who has designs on both Mr Harding’s daughter and the fascinating would-be femme fatale Signora Neroni.