Showing results by author "George Eliot" in All Categories

Set in the 1830s, this ‘study of provincial life’ introduces us to young, idealistic Dorothea Brooke, who accepts a proposal from scholarly Edward Casaubon, hoping to forge a loving partnership of intellectual equals. But on honeymoon in Rome, she swiftly becomes disillusioned. Trapped in an unhappy marriage, she finds solace in her friendship with Casaubon’s cousin, Will Ladislaw - only for her controlling husband to suspect her of betrayal and set out to test her loyalty. 

Gwendolen Harleth gambles her happiness when she marries a sadistic aristocrat for his money. Beautiful, neurotic, and self-centered, Gwendolen is trapped in an increasingly destructive relationship, and only her chance encounter with the idealistic Deronda seems to offer the hope of a brighter future. Deronda is searching for a vocation, and in embracing the Jewish cause he finds one that is both visionary and life-changing.

First published in 1861 it tells the tale of the lonely weaver Silas Marner who, after suffering betrayal and rejection, leaves his community to become a recluse obsessed only with accumulating money. One day Silas's money is stolen by Dunstan Cass, a dissolute son of Squire Cass, the town's leading landowner. The loss of his gold drives Silas into a deep gloom, until one day a little golden-haired orphan girl wanders into his home to change his life forever.

Considered one of the great English novels, George Eliot's Middlemarch, A Study of Provincial Life follows myriad characters and their lives in the eponymous town, Middlemarch, in the 1800s. Utilizing a realistic style, Eliot considers issues such as religion, education, and the status of women—to name just a few.

Relinquishing thoughts of a materially rewarding life, the respectably educated Felix Holt returns to his native village in North Loamshire and becomes an artisan. He is a forceful young man of honor, integrity, and idealism, burning to participate in political life so that he may improve the lot of his fellow artisans.

One of the masterpieces of English fiction, Daniel Deronda tells the intertwined stories of two characters as they each come to discover the truth of their natures. Gwendolen Harleth is the beautiful, high-spirited daughter of an impoverished upper-class family. Daniel Deronda, the adopted son of an aristocratic Englishman, is searching for his path in life.

George Eliot's The Lifted Veil was first published in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine in 1859 and has now become one of the author's most widely read and critically discussed stories. Told from the point of view of a young, egocentric, and morbid clairvoyant man, Latimer, it is a dark fantasy portrait of an artist whose visionary powers merely blight his life. The story reflected the scientific interest of the time in the physiology of the brain, mesmerism, phrenology, and experiments in revivification.

At the center of Middlemarch is Dorothea Brooke, a thoughtful and idealistic young woman determined to make a difference with her life. Enamored of a man who she believes is setting this example, she traps herself into a loveless marriage. Her parallel is Tertius Lydgate, a young doctor from the city whose passionate ambition to spread the new science of medicine is complicated by his love for the wrong woman.

Brought to you by Penguin. Brought up at Dorlcote Mill, Maggie Tulliver worships her brother, Tom, and is desperate to win the approval of her parents, but her passionate, wayward nature and her fierce intelligence bring her into constant conflict with her family. As she reaches adulthood, the clash between their expectations and her desires is painfully played out as she finds herself torn between her relationships with three very different men: her proud and stubborn brother, a close friend who is also the son of her family's worst enemy, and a charismatic but dangerous suitor.

Unfairly accused of stealing money from his community’s church, Silas Marner has become bitter and misanthropic - and wealthy. One New Year’s Eve, however, he rescues a small child from the snowstorm outside and his life changes forever. A deeply moving exploration of loneliness and redemption, Silas Marner is a beloved and timeless classic. Dame Judi Dench brings its humanity to life with unmatchable warmth and elegance.

This romantic short story by George Eliot (real name Mary Ann Evans) was first published in 1869. Told in iambic pentameter, it concerns a young Sicilian girl who harbours such intense love for the king that her longing bedevils her until she can express her feelings with the assistance of the minstrel Minuccio.

A fascinating collection of short stories by some of the greatest Victorian female writers. This anthology covers every theme from spirits and the occult to love and sexuality to sentimentality and romance to social observation and critique. 'The Operation' by Violet Hunt, 'Satan's Circus' by Eleanor Smith, 'A Dream of Wild Bees' by Olive Schreiner, 'A Dill Pickle' by Katherine Mansfield, 'Squirrel in a Cage' by E. M. Delafield, 'Afterward' by Edith Wharton, 'The Yellow Wallpaper' by Charlotte Perkins Gilman....

Growing up at Dorlcote Mill in the beautiful English countryside, young Maggie yearns for approval and affection. With her dark, striking looks and quick intelligence, she is the misfit of the Tulliver family, and while her father dotes on her, her mother despairs of her rebelliousness. But it is the love of her stolid, dutiful brother, Tom, that Maggie craves most and despite their opposing natures, the two forge a close bond.

The Mill on the Floss, first published in 1860, tells the story of Maggie Tulliver and her brother Tom as they grow from children to young adults in the small rural town of St. Ogg's, England. Intelligent and passionate, Maggie yearns to develop her mind and break free of the constraints of her provincial village. Though she loves her brother above anyone else, Tom's rigid, pragmatic personality often conflicts with Maggie's headstrong nature, with increasingly tragic consequences.

’If life had no love in it, what else was there for Maggie?’ Tragic and moving, The Mill on the Floss is a novel of grand passions and tormented lives. As the rebellious Maggie's fiery spirit and imaginative nature bring her into bitter conflict with her narrow provincial family, most painfully with her beloved brother Tom, their fates are played out on an epic scale. George Eliot drew on her own frustrated rural upbringing to create one of the great novels of childhood, and one of literature's most unforgettable heroines.

This powerful and moving 1860 novel is believed to be George Eliot’s most autobiographical novel. She was certainly referencing personal experience when she wrote the character of Maggie Tulliver.

George Eliot’s last, most controversial novel opens as the spoiled Gwendolen Harleth, poised at a roulette table about to throw away a small fortune, captivates Daniel Deronda. As their lives become intertwined, they are also transformed by suffering, misfortune, revelations and Daniel’s fascination with the Jewish singer Mirah. Daniel Deronda shocked Victorian readers with its portrayal of the Jewish experience in British society, and remains a moving and epic portrayal of human passions.

Outcast from the church, community, and close friends for a crime he did not commit, Silas Marner's trust and faith falls away. A broken, disillusioned man, he builds a new faith, that will never let him down: gold. He weaves his cloths, counts his money, baptises himself with the coins of his new religion. When tragedy strikes again and all his money is stolen he's bereft and grief stricken. Then on New Year's Eve a vision of gold flickers before the flames.

Romola is the fourth novel from the great Victorian novelist George Eliot and her first historical novel. Published in 1862 - 63, it is set in Florence at the end of the fifteenth century and events during the Italian Renaissance, and includes in its plot several notable figures from Florentine history. The story is of a girl's devotion to her blind father, her marriage to and betrayal by a young Greek and ultimate life of self-sacrifice.

Originally released as vinyl records, these expertly abridged and remastered stories are now available to download for the first time. What was it like to love, live, and rebel in Britain during the 19th and 20th centuries? These beloved British novels offer three dramatically different but universally recognisable experiences. Read by three luminaries of the stage and screen: Dame Judi Dench, Sir Ian McKellen, and Sir John Gielgud.