George Eliot's Life, as Related in Her Letters and Journals. Vol. 2 (of 3)

"George Eliot's Life, as Related in Her Letters and Journals. Vol. 2 (of 3)" by George Eliot is a biographical work that chronicles the author's life through her letters and journals. Written in the late 19th century, this volume details her experiences and reflections during the height of her literary career, evidencing her thoughts on writing, relationships, and intellectual pursuits. The narrative is edited by her husband, J. W. Cross, providing an intimate perspective on Eliot's life and the societal challenges she faced as a prominent female author. The opening of this volume presents Eliot's intimate thoughts and experiences from January to December 1858, focusing heavily on the reception of her work "Scenes of Clerical Life" and her burgeoning success as a writer. We see her grappling with the implications of her anonymous authorship and the praise she receives from literary giants like Charles Dickens and J. A. Froude, which both exhilarates and petrifies her. Throughout her journal entries, Eliot reflects on her creative processes, her evolving identity, and her personal life, offering rich insights into her artistic spirit and the societal norms of her time. This glimpse into her life serves as an excellent entry point for readers interested in understanding the intertwining of Eliot's personal and professional worlds. (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.