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Title: George Eliot's greatest novel
Review: Middlemarch has been described as the one Victorian novel written for grownups. Here, Eliot combines the multiple and interlocking plot lines so beloved by the Victorians with adult characters facing real problems. Particularly engaging is Dorothea Brooke's efforts to find a way to serve, if not achieve, greatness. Rather than undertake some great work herself -- something that Victorian women were not encouraged to do -- she chooses to dedicate herself to supporting a man that she mistakenly believes to be creating a major work. Similarly, Lydgate's slow downfall is realistically portrayed. Unlike many of the works of Dickens, Middlemarch's multiple plots work well together. If you have not read anything by George Eliot, this is the book to begin with.
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