SOURCE: Barnett, Victoria J. Review of The Rector's Wife, by Joanna Trollope. Christian Century 112, no. 2 (18 January 1995): 60-3.

In the following review, Barnett examines the conflict between private life and public image in The Rector's Wife, noting the protagonist's struggle to obtain independence, autonomy, and a sense of personal identity.

Joanna Trollope's book (and the BBC dramatization shown this past fall on public television) is one of numerous stories about a married woman who rediscovers her identity by escaping her marriage. But any reader who has been inside a parsonage will know that The Rector's Wife is much more than a story about the attractions of adultery when a marriage has reached a dead end. Trollope has written an important novel about a widespread issue: what happens to individuals and their relationships when public expectations conflict with the realities and demands of their private lives.

Some may think that...