"The Vicar of Bullhampton" by Anthony Trollope is a novel published in 1870. Three intertwining stories unfold in a small Wiltshire town: a young woman torn between two suitors, a bitter feud between the broad church vicar and a nobleman aided by a Methodist minister, and the vicar's controversial attempt to rehabilitate a fallen woman. Trollope defended his sympathetic portrayal of a woman who has sinned, expecting public outrage that never came. The novel's darker tone disappointed readers accustomed to his lighter earlier works. (This is an automatically generated summary.)