Mark Robarts, is a young vicar, settled in the village of Framley in Barsetshire with his wife and children. Mark has ambitions to further his career and begins to seek connections in the county's high society. Another plot line deals with the romance between Mark's sister Lucy and Lord Lufton. The couple are deeply in love and the young man proposes, but Lady Lufton is against the marriage.

Anthony Trollope was one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. Some of his best-loved works, collectively known as the Barchester Chronicles, revolve around the imaginary county of Barsetshire. He also wrote perceptive novels on political, social, and gender issues, and on other topical matters.