THE RECTOR’S WIFE by Joanna Trollope...

THE RECTOR’S WIFE by Joanna Trollope (Berkley: $6.99, 319 pp.). A descendant of 19th century novelist Anthony Trollope, Joanna Trollope writes about the restrictions of rural English life in this engaging novel. As the wife of a parish priest, Anna Bouverie has no existence in her own right: She’s been reduced to the sum of her duties and others’ expectations. She chafes at these limits as her ineffectual husband withdraws emotionally. When a would-be admirer accuses of her being caught up in “this modern woman thing,” Anna replies that independence has nothing to do with gender: “It means not being subordinate. It means thinking and acting for yourself. It means not depending on anyone else for your sense of value.” Trollope captures the desperation and joy of a woman on a journey of self-discovery.