The Adventures of Harry Richmond — Volume 7

"The Adventures of Harry Richmond — Volume 7" by George Meredith is a novel likely written during the late 19th century. This installment continues the journey of the protagonist, Harry Richmond, as he navigates various encounters and challenges, particularly involving relationships and personal growth. The narrative intertwines themes of identity, social status, and the complexities of love, prominently featuring characters like Kiomi and the Princess Ottilia. The opening of the narrative finds Harry Richmond recovering from a violent encounter with a group of gipsies, which leaves him in a vulnerable state. He wakes in a gipsy tent, cared for by Kiomi, a girl from the tribe. Their relationship hints at a deeper connection, as Harry reflects on the dangers of straying from one's natural place in society. As he grapples with his recent physical ordeal, the story unfolds to introduce tensions related to his father’s ambitious nature and his ongoing feelings for the Princess Ottilia. Harry's internal conflicts and the dynamics with the gipsies effectively set the stage for broader themes of honor, identity, and the trials of youth as he prepares for further developments in his relationships and adventures. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

George Meredith was an English novelist and poet of the Victorian era. At first, his focus was poetry, influenced by John Keats among others, but Meredith gradually established a reputation as a novelist. The Ordeal of Richard Feverel (1859) briefly scandalised Victorian literary circles. Of his later novels, the most enduring is The Egoist (1879), though in his lifetime his greatest success was Diana of the Crossways (1885). His novels were innovative in their attention to characters' psychology, and also portrayed social change. His style, in both poetry and prose, was noted for its syntactic complexity; Oscar Wilde likened it to "chaos illumined by brilliant flashes of lightning". Meredith was an encourager of other novelists, as well as an influence on them; among those to benefit were Robert Louis Stevenson and George Gissing. Meredith was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature seven times.