Anthony Trollope

The appointment of a new bishop and the ensuing conflicts and intrigue form the basis of this satire of the clergy.

Lily is the niece of Squire Dale, an embittered old bachelor living in the main house on his property at Allington. He has loaned an adjacent small house rent free to his widowed sister-in-law and her daughters, Lily and Bell. But the relations between the two houses are strained, affecting the romantic entanglements of the girls.

Follows three generations of an aristocratic and politically powerful English family and their circle of family and friends.