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John Wiley & Sons The Life of George Eliot Cover Eliot's conviction that the best history of a writer is contained in his writings is more than a wis.. Product #: 978-1-118-91767-1 Regular price: $35.42 $35.42 In Stock

The Life of George Eliot

A Critical Biography

Henry, Nancy

Blackwell Critical Biographies

Cover

1. Edition August 2014
320 Pages, Softcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd

Short Description

Eliot's conviction that the best history of a writer is contained in his writings is more than a wise and quotable saying. The separation of biographical studies from literary interpretation has inevitably led to distortions and misinterpretations of her work. With chronologically ordered chapters, this book addresses the themes, events and situation that structured Eliot's life.

ISBN: 978-1-118-91767-1
John Wiley & Sons

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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

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
"...this learned, adventurous new biographer has changed the landscape of George Eliot studies." (The George Eliot Review, 1 November 2012)

"Driven neither by hero-worship or spite, Henry's "critical biography" demonstrates what treasure there is still to be found in even the most worked-over subjects. The trick is to ask the questions that everyone else assumed had been answered years ago." (The Guardian, 2 June 2012)

"Henry provides a useful reminder that that old-fashioned pejorative, adulteress, might have been applied to Eliot as well as to Agnes, and she provides a sensitive analysis of the novels in the light of that insight." (The New Yorker, 6 August 2012)
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.

N. Henry, University of Tennessee at Knoxville, USA