THE WARDEN

Trollope's gentle and very funny novel, which explores moral questions of light contour and complex meaning, is wonderfully read by Jeremy Nicholas. Nicholas employs an old-fashioned, clerical voice--precise, cultured and slightly prissy--which accords perfectly with the mid-Victorian, cathedral town setting of the story. Nicholas's timing is impeccable and allows the listener to catch and savor the rich and subtle humor. His vivid portraits are achieved by granting individuals their specific idiosyncrasies of speech arising from gender, class and manners. He is equally adroit with all, from the gentle warden to his beadsman, to that comic pair, his elder daughter and her husband, the tyrannical archdeacon. This recording is pure delight. E.J.M. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: MAR 93]