ADAM BEDE

MIDDLEMARCH

Dorothea Brooke marries the pedantic scholar Casaubon, in a quest for intellectual fulfilment. The marriage is unhappy but after his death she is trapped by the terms of his will. Other characters include the charming Dr Lydgate and the religious hypocrite Bulstrode.

THE MILL ON THE FLOSS

Maggie Tulliver and her brother Tom are very close but, as she grows into womanhood, she comes into conflict with his bourgeois standards and the result is tragedy.

SCENES OF CLERICAL LIFE

In the quiet world of rural English clergy, lives are full of challenges, conflicts, desires and expectations. George Eliot's first published work of fiction (1857) comprises three separate stories and has the hallmarks of her famous later works-her gentle wit and clever satire, her psychological insight, and her keen observation of human nature and frailty. These are beautifully written and poignant tales, set in and around the fictional Midlands town of Milby. Reverend Amos Barton has a tough time as the new curate in Shepperton, in "The Sad Fortunes of the Reverend Amos Barton"; in "Mr Gilfil's Love Story," Maynard Gilfil is in love with an Italian orphan called Tina, who becomes the central focus of the story; and in "Janet's Repentance," Edgar Tryan, an evangelical, helps Janet to overcome the abuse of her husband.

SILAS MARNER

When a lonely linen-weaver's gold is stolen from his cottage, nothing consoles him until the arrival of a young child changes his life.