The World Before Her

Two women in Venice, separated by a century, search for love and identity in the latest from novelist Weisgall. It opens as Marian Evans—aka Mary Ann Evans, aka the novelist George Eliot (1819–1880)—is on her 1880 honeymoon in Venice with Johnnie Cross, who is 20 years her junior. Evans is trying, after a long and scandalous love affair with fellow author George Lewes, to have a normal marriage. One hundred years later, in the same city, Caroline Spingold travels with her husband, Malcolm, on his business trip aimed at revitalizing the Venetian economy. Caroline is a sculptor with a childhood history in Venice, financially supported by Malcolm, who is 20 years her senior. Malcolm does not share many of Caroline's perceptions, and show more she grows increasingly weary of her stale marriage. Weisgall shares the stories of Marian and Caroline in alternating chapters, sensitively developing their similarities in artistic and sexual ambition. Both face the deaths of men from their pasts, making love to their memories while their current partners struggle to beautify their lives and aid them in their work. Weisgall's well-researched historical fiction is dense, romantic and provocative. show less

Excellent novel with parallel stories of the marriages of two women, both artists, who visit Venice 100 years apart. In 1880 Marian Evans Cross, better known to the world as George Eliot, is on her honeymoon. She has, to the world's surprise, married her much-younger financial adviser relatively soon after the death of her longtime partner, George Lewes. In 1980, Caroline Spingold is in Venice at the behest of her much older and controlling husband, Malcolm, who is afraid she is reclaiming her identity as an artist (she is a sculptor) and moving away from him. The women's stories are as different as the times and circumstances in which they live but both are enthralling. This novel would be a good choice for people who liked The Hours show more by Michael Cunningham -- for people who want to know more about George Eliot and her love life, I highly recommend Parallel Lives: Five Victorian Marriages by Phyllis Rose. show less

A fictional account of a year George Eliot spent in Venice on her honeymoon with a man not quite her soul mate, intermingled with the account of a modern woman in Venice with her husband to celebrate their 10 year marriage which has become stale over time. Their parallel stories are told in alternating chapters as they each search for love and identity in the city rich with beauty and history.

I love George Eliot, and was thrilled to read about her as a character in a work of fiction. I think Weisgall portrays George Eliot in a friendly and faithful way. The book was not as gripping as it could have been, more of a gentle friendship than a passionate love affair. But very enjoyable.

This was ok. It had some interesting things to say about marriage but I found the writing very stiff, especially the dialogue.