The first of Trollope‘s popular Barsetshire novels, The Warden centers on the honorable cleric Septimus Harding. When Harding is accused of mismanaging church funds, his predicament lays bare the complexities of the Victorian world and of 19th century provincial life. “The theme of The Warden presents the kind of social problem that always fascinated Trollope: the inevitable clash of ancient privilege with modern social awareness.”