Middlemarch
-
-
4.2 • 134 Ratings
-
Publisher Description
Making masterful use of a counter pointed plot, Eliot presents the stories of a number of denizens of a small English town on the eve of the Reform Bill of 1832. The main characters, Dorothea Brooke and Tertius Lydgate, each long for exceptional lives but are powerfully constrained by their own unrealistic expectations as well as conservative society. The novel is notable for its deep psychological insight and sophisticated character portraits.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
One of English literature’s enduring literary monuments, George Eliot’s Middlemarch is a sprawling (and iconic) Victorian novel. Set in a fictional town in mid-19th-century England, it’s a robust tapestry filled with fascinating characters navigating interwoven narratives and themes, including class, religion, marriage and the status of women. Though it takes a little work, the novel's stunning insights, deft plotting and beautiful prose pay major dividends.
Customer Reviews
engaging
characters are richly defined with engaging thought processes of logic to tell story of interwoven web of life in Middlemarch. i was after victorian drama, but told differently and exulted in knowing the male handle is a guise for a women's authorship.
A World
Once I was through the first couple of chapters and adjusted to the style, I was immersed in an entire world. The main plot and characters - well it's probably a bit apologist given Eliot's own life and personally I find Dorothea irritating- but the intertwined subplots are masterful, peopled with characters so beautifully sketched they appeared in my dreams after the first time I read this. Every time I reread this, my heart breaks a little that Eliot didn't have time to write more. Wonderful.