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George Eliot was born Mary Ann Evans on a Warwickshire farm in England, where she spent almost all of her early life. She received a modest local education and was particularly influenced by one of her teachers, an extremely religious woman whom the novelist would later use as a model for various characters. Eliot read extensively, and was particularly drawn to the romantic poets and German literature. In 1849, after the death of her father, she went to London and became assistant editor of the Westminster Review, a radical magazine. She soon began publishing sketches of country life in London magazines. At about his time Eliot began her lifelong relationship with George Henry Lewes. A married man, Lewes could not marry Eliot, but they lived together until Lewes's death. Eliot's sketches were well received, and soon after she followed with her first novel, Adam Bede (1859). She took the pen name "George Eliot" because she believed the public would take a male author more seriously. Like all of Eliot's best work, The Mill on the Floss (1860), is based in large part on her own life and her relationship with her brother. In it she begins to explore male-female relations and the way people's personalities determine their relationships with others. She returns to this theme in Silas Mariner (1861), in which she examines the changes brought about in life and personality of a miser through the love of a little girl. In 1863, Eliot published Romola. Set against the political intrigue of Florence, Italy, of the 1490's, the book chronicles the spiritual journey of a passionate young woman. Eliot's greatest achievement is almost certainly Middlemarch (1871). Here she paints her most detailed picture of English country life, and explores most deeply the frustrations of an intelligent woman with no outlet for her aspirations. This novel is now regarded as one of the major works of the Victorian era and one of the greatest works of fiction in English. Eliot's last work was Daniel Deronda. In that work, Daniel, the adopted son of an aristocratic Englishman, gradually becomes interested in Jewish culture and then discovers his own Jewish heritage. He eventually goes to live in Palestine. Because of the way in which she explored character and extended the range of subject matter to include simple country life, Eliot is now considered to be a major figure in the development of the novel. She is buried in Highgate Cemetery, North London, England, next to her common-law husband, George Henry Lewes. (Bowker Author Biography) — biography from Middlemarch… (more)
Middlemarch 16,776 copies, 317 reviews
Silas Marner 10,718 copies, 151 reviews
The Mill on the Floss 8,278 copies, 115 reviews
Adam Bede 4,160 copies, 71 reviews
Daniel Deronda 3,568 copies, 46 reviews
Romola 1,377 copies, 19 reviews
Felix Holt, the Radical 1,006 copies, 7 reviews
Scenes of Clerical Life 826 copies, 18 reviews
The Lifted Veil [short fiction] 635 copies, 25 reviews
Silas Marner and Two Short Stories (Author) 286 copies, 3 reviews
The Lifted Veil / Brother Jacob 248 copies, 4 reviews
Brother Jacob 137 copies, 1 review
Selected Essays, Poems and Other Writings (Translator) 130 copies, 2 reviews
Middlemarch (1/2) 108 copies, 2 reviews
Collected poems 64 copies, 1 review
Amos Barton 46 copies, 4 reviews
Silas Marner [Penguin Readers] 35 copies, 2 reviews
Janet's Repentance 28 copies, 1 review
Romola (1/2) (Author) 20 copies
Romola / Theophrastus Such (Author) 20 copies
Romola (2/2) (Author) 16 copies
The Mill on the Floss (1/2) (Author) 15 copies
The Mill on the Floss (2/2) (Author) 14 copies
Scenes of Clerical Life (1/2) (Author) 12 copies, 1 review
The Works of George Eliot 11 copies, 1 review
Middlemarch (3/3) (Author) 11 copies
Romola (1/3) 9 copies
Romola / Silas Marner (Author) 9 copies
Romola (3/3) 8 copies
Romola (2/3) 8 copies
Middlemarch (1/3) (Author) 6 copies
Silas Marner / Middlemarch (Author) 6 copies
Middlemarch (2/3) (Author) 6 copies
Eliot's works 5 copies
Two Lovers 2 copies
Works 2 copies
Biographie 1 copy
Golden Grain 1 copy, 1 review
Little Women (some editions) 17,245 copies, 408 reviews
Ethics (Translator, some editions) 2,778 copies, 37 reviews
One Hundred and One Famous Poems (Contributor, some editions) 1,831 copies, 17 reviews
The Essence of Christianity (Translator, some editions; Translator, some editions) 843 copies, 12 reviews
The Treasure Chest (My Book House) (Contributor) 237 copies, 1 review
Atheism: A Reader (Contributor) 179 copies, 3 reviews
The Portable Victorian Reader (Contributor) 173 copies
A Literary Christmas: An Anthology (Contributor) 119 copies, 2 reviews
The Penguin Book of Women's Humour (Contributor) 114 copies
The Life of Jesus Critically Examined (Translator, some editions; Translator, some editions) 111 copies, 1 review
The Standard Book of British and American Verse (Contributor) 105 copies, 1 review
Silas Marner (Radio Theatre) (Original novel) 37 copies
Great English Short Stories (Contributor) 20 copies, 1 review
Silas Marner [1985 film] (Original novel) 19 copies, 1 review
Ghosts and Marvels (Contributor) 17 copies
10 Penguin Classics on 45 CDs (The Mayor of Casterbridge, Pride &… (Contributor; Contributor) 9 copies, 1 review
An Adult's Garden of Bloomers (Contributor) 7 copies
Famous stories of five centuries (Contributor) 4 copies
Maestros Ingleses, Tomo III (Contributor) 2 copies
A Reader for Writers (Contributor) 2 copies
A Book of Narratives (Contributor) 2 copies
Klassisia kauhukertomuksia (Contributor) 1 copy
Adam Bede: A Play (Author) 1 copy

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Short biography
Mary Ann Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880; alternatively Mary Anne or Marian, 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 (1862–63), Felix Holt, the Radical (1866), Middlemarch (1871–72) and Daniel Deronda (1876), most of which are set in provincial England and known for their realism and psychological insight.

Although female authors were published under their own names during her lifetime, she wanted to escape the stereotype of women's writing being limited to lighthearted romances. She also wanted to have her fiction judged separately from her already extensive and widely known work as an editor and critic. Another factor in her use of a pen name may have been a desire to shield her private life from public scrutiny, thus avoiding the scandal that would have arisen because of her relationship with the married George Henry Lewes.

Middlemarch has been described by the novelists Martin Amis[3] and Julian Barnes as the greatest novel in the English language. Published under the name J. T. Colgan.
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