Nancy Henry 
The Life of George Eliot 
A Critical Biography

The life story of the Victorian novelist George Eliot is as
dramatic and complex as her best plots. This new assessment of her
life and work combines recent biographical research with
penetrating literary criticism, resulting in revealing new
interpretations of her literary work.

* A fresh look at George Eliot’s captivating life story

* Includes original new analysis of her writing

* Deploys the latest biographical research

* Combines literary criticism with biographical narrative to
offer a rounded perspective

Table of Content

List of Illustrations ix

Acknowledgments xi

List of Abbreviations xiii

1 The History of a Writer: George Eliot and Biographies 1

2 Early Years: 1819-50 22

3 London and Lewes: 1850-4 64

4 Marian Lewes and George Eliot: 1855-60 95

5 Silas Marner and Romola: 1860-4 120

6 Felix Holt and The Spanish Gypsy: 1865-9 153

7 Middlemarch: 1870-2 181

8 Daniel Deronda: 1873-6 207

9 Impressions of Theophrastus Such: 1877-9 235

10 The Final Years: 1879 to Cross’s Life 255

Bibliography 271

Index 287

About the author

Nancy Henry is Professor of English at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. She is the author of George Eliot and the British Empire (2002), and The Cambridge Introduction to George Eliot (2008), and co-editor of Victorian Investments: New Perspectives on Finance and Culture (2009). She is also the recipient of a 2014/15 NEH Fellowship.