First published 1999
Dr. Wortle runs a prestigious boarding school with an iron reputation. When his new headmaster Mr. Peacocke is revealed to have a complicated marital past—married to a woman previously divorced—the community erupts in moral outrage. Local clergy and educational authorities demand Peacocke's dismissal, threatening the school's standing. Dr. Wortle refuses to bend, defending his employee's character and challenging the rigid social conventions that would destroy a good man's career. As the controversy intensifies, Wortle must choose between institutional survival and personal principle, risking everything to protect Peacocke and his wife. At stake is not just a job, but the very integrity of a man's professional and personal honor.
Genres: fiction, drama, historical-fiction, british-literature, 19th-century, academic
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, moral-dilemma
Setting: Barchester
Period: 19th-Century
222 pages · Paperback · Penguin Classics