"Robert Elsmere" by Mrs. Humphry Ward is a novel published in 1888. It follows an Oxford clergyman who encounters German rationalist writings that shake his faith in Anglican doctrine. Rather than embracing atheism or Catholicism, he pursues a new path of social work among the poor. The novel sparked intense controversy in Victorian England, where religious doubt was taboo, becoming an immediate bestseller that sold over a million copies and provoked a famous critical response from Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone himself. (This is an automatically generated summary.)