George Eliot

George Eliot - pseudonym for Marian Evans, was a strange, contradictory character. This is her story, sympathetically and honestly told. From a quiet, lonely childhood in a small Midlands town, she went to London, and made a name for herself as editor and contributor of The Westminster Review. She lived in the home of the founder John Chapman, and fell mildly in love with him, evidence of her crying need to love and be loved. For a time she had to go- John Chapman already had not only a wife, but a mistress living under one roof. But she was recalled- and they lived amicably together until George Lewes came into her life. There is no doubt that her twenty years with Lewes, who could not marry her, was for both of them a true marriage- not only a rebellion against her strictly evangelical upbringing. They never wavered in true devotion and respect for each other- and out of this came the novels that made her famous. The last half of the book is a critical essay on her writings, which established her ?? the "most intellectual novelist of her time". Generous excerpts and brilliant criticing go far towards proving his point, and may launch a tiny Eliot revival. For a literary market. (Kirkus Reviews)