Felix Holt, the Radical

"Felix Holt, the Radical" by George Eliot is a novel written in the mid-19th century. The narrative is set in England during a time of political change and social reaction, engaging with themes of class struggle, reform, and individual aspirations. The story revolves around various characters, including the titular Felix Holt, who is indicative of the radical changes occurring in society, particularly in terms of social justice and political reform. The opening of the novel introduces readers to a rich tapestry of English country life and the contrasting social classes of the time. At the start, the respected lodge-keeper of Transome Court anticipates the return of Harold Transome, a character marked by both promise and complication. The reader gets a glimpse of the complexities within the relationships, notably between Harold and his mother, Mrs. Transome, who harbors high expectations for her son amid her tarnished past and the burdens of family legacy. As these characters are drawn together, tensions surface around Harold's radical political views, which directly challenge the conservative values upheld by his mother and the society surrounding them, hinting at the broader societal conflicts that will unfold throughout the narrative. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Mary Ann Evans, known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wrote seven novels: Adam Bede (1859), The Mill on the Floss (1860), Silas Marner (1861), Romola (1862–1863), Felix Holt, the Radical (1866), Middlemarch (1871–1872) and Daniel Deronda (1876). As with Charles Dickens and Thomas Hardy, she emerged from provincial England; most of her works are set there. Her works are known for their realism, psychological insight, sense of place and detailed depiction of the countryside. Middlemarch was described by the novelist Virginia Woolf as "one of the few English novels written for grown-up people" and by Martin Amis and Julian Barnes as the greatest novel in the English language.