Middlemarch

Written by George Eliot

Narrated by Geoffrey Giuliano and The Ark

Middlemarch is a novel by the English author Mary Anne Evans, who wrote as George Eliot. It first appeared in eight installments in 1871 and 1872. Set in Middlemarch, a fictional English Midland town, from 1829 to 1832, it follows distinct, intersecting stories with many characters. Issues include the status of women, the nature of marriage, idealism, self-interest, religion, hypocrisy, political reform, and education. Despite comic elements, Middlemarch uses realism to encompass historical events: the 1832 Reform Act, early railways, and the accession of King William IV. It looks at the medicine of the time and reactionary views in a settled community facing unwelcome change. Eliot began writing the two pieces that formed the novel in 1869–1870 and completed it in 1871. Initial reviews were mixed, but it is now seen widely as her best work and one of the great English novels..

Mary Ann Evans, 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, The Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner, Romola, Felix Holt, the Radical, Middlemarch, and Daniel Deronda..

A true audiobook original treasure!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Icon Audio Arts
• Release date: Sep 3, 2022
• ISBN: 9798887674766

George Eliot

George Eliot (1819–1880), born Mary Ann Evans, was an English writer best known for her poetry and novels. She grew up in a conservative environment where she received a Christian education. An avid reader, Eliot expanded her horizons on religion, science and free thinkers. Her earliest writings included an anonymous English translation of The Life of Jesus in 1846 before embracing a career as a fiction writer. Some of her most notable works include Adam Bede (1859), The Mill on the Floss(1860) and Silas Marner.

Reviews for Middlemarch

[ameise1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a pleasant light reading, which has not really captivated me. It is a social study with about a provincial town filled with being in love, marriages, deaths, money worries and happiness. Most actions were predictable and relatively typical of that time. You will quickly become familiar with all protagonists and almost can already guess what happens before it undergoes in the book.

[leslie398 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

While I enjoyed the plot and the characterizations, I struggled with Eliot's writing style. However, I found it picked up quite a bit at the end (the last 150 pages or so). I think that I will have to revisit this novel at some time in the future; perhaps I will be in a better mood to appreciate it.

[anniemod · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was supposed to be one of my last books for 2022. Then I realized it is worth reading it a bit slower, book by book, and letting it settle a bit. I've read it before although it had been awhile - I was still in high school when I met the denizens of Middlemarch for the last time and my memories had lost most of the details (and curiously enough, some of the characters). Published in 1871-1872, the story takes place mostly in the invented town of Middlemarch (with a quick stop in Rome, Italy) and is set 40 years earlier (in 1829-1832 to be exact). Using an invented town allows Eliot to set things where she needs them instead of getting all tangled in real geography and history. And yet, in a lot of ways, Middlemarch is England in the early 1830s, much more than any depiction of a real town in other novels. On the surface, the novel is very similar to the first book by Eliot - the 1858 collection "Scenes of Clerical Life" covers a lot of the same topics and you can even see some of the later novels scenes shadows in the earlier ones. And yet, Middlemarch feels a lot more mature and complete - it is a slice of life story about 4 women and the men they marry and love (not always the same ones) and about the changing England of the 1830s. This kind of novels can end up with characters who read more like types than like real people (and the early stories did have a bit of that happening). But here, all of the characters are fully realized - even the ones we see for a few minutes only - they all are real people with both good and bad mixed into their characters. I call it slice of life but that does not really do justice to the scope of the novel. It is a romance (or 3). It is a coming of age story. It is a chronicle of a time and place. And it is neither of those things and all of those things mixed into one glorious novel. And it is worth the reread and the time required to actually work through it - because it slows you down and makes you read slower than usual - there is such abundance of details and people that you need time to catalog and acknowledge them in your head - usually without realizing that you are doing it. That verbosity may sound unappealing but every word and detail is necessary and required. And my only problem when I closed the last page was that I had to part from the good (and not so good people) of Middlemarch.

[judygibson-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I rather liked it though it is very long and dense. Like so many of the 19th century novels, it centers on the lives of the provincial landed gentry and their romantic and financial issues. Here are a couple of ways it seemed different from Austen and the Brontes:

I really enjoyed the frequent snarky author commentary on the social situation of the times and the behavior of the characters. Sure, Austen can be wry, but Eliot is even more cutting.

The huge cast of characters allows us to see the lives of many classes of people besides the wealthy, and many levels of interaction. Of course, the huge cast of characters makes it hard to remember who they all are. And since it's set in a long-settled rural area most of the people are related to each other in one way or another.

And though I am a pretty sophisticated reader, I found many passages hard to understand, both due to the complex sentences and to the frequent references to classical literature. The edition I read had many explanatory endnotes but a lot of knowledge was assumed.

[bauernfeind · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

An extremely lengthy tome about life in a small English village where the author uses phrasing at times familiar to those used in her times the 1800s, making reading at times challenging. It took her a long time to get to the point: That life from the cheap seats is part and parcel of what makes the world go round.

[castlelass · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Primary protagonist, Dorothea, is an independent-minded woman. She thinks by marrying an educated older gentleman that she can become a true partner in his academic pursuits; however, she is sorely disappointed as she runs up against the patriarchal society and its narrow view of a woman’s ability to contribute. We meet many other residents of Middlemarch, including Dorothea’s guardian, sister, and brother-in-law; Bulstrode, the banker; Lydgate, the newly arrived doctor with his advanced medical thinking; Lydgate’s beautiful wife, Rosamond; Fred and Mary, a young couple hoping to marry; and Will Ladislaw, a young man with a background of lesser repute who is attracted to Dorothea, but prohibited by circumstances from courting her.

I will not attempt to summarize the plot since this is an extremely long book with lots of characters. I counted four main storylines. It is primarily character-driven until near the end. This is a true Victorian novel, published in 1871 and set in the 1830s in a fictional small English town. It addresses social issues of the author’s time, such as the role of women, reluctance to adopt medical advances, and social stratification.

We are privy to the characters’ inner thoughts and can easily see how actions can be misconstrued. We identify the mismatched partners, and their marital difficulties are not surprising. The writing style is elaborate, using many paragraphs to say what we would now express in a couple sentences. This style will obviously not be for everyone. I knew what I was getting into, but even so, I had to read several passages more than once to get the gist of what was being conveyed.

“But this vague conviction of indeterminable guilt, which was enough to keep up much head-shaking and biting innuendo even among substantial professional seniors, had for the general mind all the superior power of mystery over fact. Everybody liked better to conjecture how the thing was, rather than simply to know it; for conjecture soon became more confident than knowledge, and had a more liberal allowance for the incompatible. Even the more definite scandal…was, for some minds, melted into the mass of mystery, as so much lively metal to be poured out in dialogue, and to take such fantastic shapes as heaven pleased.”

I think in current times this novel would have been pared down considerably and focused more on the protagonist. Dorothea disappears for long stretches of the narrative. I recommend reading it slowly, and it is structured in short chapters that make this easy to do. By the end, everything gels. I ended up enjoying it much more than expected. I am glad I finally got around to reading this classic.

[burritapal · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Though this book was long, and took me about 3 weeks to read, I'm glad I read it.

Eliot brings delightful and hateful characters to life in this story that takes place in and around a small town in mid-England, 1828-1832. The characters range from small-town merchants and their families, and the occupants of estates that surround Middlemarch. Her characterization and imagery are life-like, and I was visualizing some of the characters vividly. For example, I visualized Dr Tertius Lydgate, one of the good guys, as Michael York.

This book is one that will stay with me. I highly recommend it.

[beauxarts79 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The last 300 pages or so involve more intense conflict and, so, are more engaging to read. The characters are not, in themselves, interesting enough for me to be invested in their internal landscapes alone, though the narrator treats them as if they are. The earnestness and gravity with which the narrator communicates the inner lives of the characters feels disproportionate to the substance of those inner lives. The main characters are, for the most part, incredibly feeble; their circumstances always have the upper hand, tyrannizing them and forcing them into monotonous postures of self-pity, obtuseness, or general malaise. They seldom DO anything compelling; occasionally, something may happen TO them. Then they mope (or, if we're lucky, gossip) incessantly. One last criticism: I find the narrative voice stiff and the prose overwrought. I came close to not enjoying the novel at all, but my rating is, in part, an act of deference to its canonical status.

[ghost_boy-691444 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I am happy to say that I finally finished this book. Only took me about a little less then year to finish with breaks in between the parts. I'll be honest to say there we some parts I got lost, but I loved the fact it was character driven. No matter how you wanted to follow the plot, in the final chapter Eliot sums up everyone's life and truly brings the book to a close. Best end I've ever read in a awhile.

I think my favorite character (maybe everyone's favorite) was Dorothea Brooke. For the 1800s I was surprised how strong her character was. Not only was she rich, but the was intelligent in many ways. Plus I liked how she was explained at the end too. Not saying anything on here for spoiler reasons.

The best part to me was this book showed that George Eliot was a really smart lady of her time. Her writing was very fresh for the 1800s. She gave a lot of literary references in her book (most I didn't know so thank God for the footnotes). Oddly, this book got me interested in the financial part of the time. Explained stuff that most books wouldn't have.

All in all, this was a great book. Classic indeed. Would I recommend it though? Probably not. Only if your up for a challenging read of 800 pages with very little font size (or for my edition at least). But if you looking for a town drama hat focuses more on the characters then the actual plot then give this a shot.

[profh-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Not going to finish. I appreciate that this work was groundbreaking at the time and that it influenced the next generation. It certainly has a place in the history of English Literature. I couldn't find a good reason to continue after five-hundred pages.

[electrascaife · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Ugh, I couldn't justify finishing this one. Eliot is hit-or-miss for me (Adam Bede was awful with raisins but I enjoyed Silas Marner just fine), and this one is a giant miss. I can't manage to care about any of the characters and the plot is clearly going someplace that will absolutely annoy me and it's taking its sweet-ass time getting there. I tried hanging in there, but just no. So I'm out. I'm done. And I'm also counting it toward my total reads for the year because I've done my suffering (6 hours of it! In Azkaban!) and I've earned the tick mark.

[tonifgmamtc · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I guess this would be labeled as a period drama or maybe historical realism. It follows several several people in their regular lives. A lot of the focus seems to be about the ideas of the time and changes in ideas.

[durga2112 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read this book on a recommendation from my local library when I was looking for some classics to read last summer. I haven't read much Victorian fiction yet, so it took me a while to become accustomed to the writing style, but by the end I found it to be one of the most rewarding reading experiences I've ever had. I read it as an ebook, and I found myself regularly making notes on little passages that I enjoyed. Many of those notes were basically me just repeating that I love the way the book was written; it is quite possibly the most well-written book I have ever read - George Eliot showing a complete mastery of both the English language and the human condition. I don't know how best to describe it, other than that the book really feels "alive" in a way that I've rarely felt with books. I can easily see myself coming back to this book eventually, and I feel like it will be even more rewarding on subsequent reads.One final little note: as a longtime fan of the progressive metal band Dream Theater, I was delighted when I recognized a little quote from late in the book: "Our deeds still travel with us from afar, And what we have been makes us what we are", which the band paraphrased in their song "Beyond This Life" from the 1999 album "Scenes from a Memory" as "Our deeds have travelled far / What we have been is what we are". I had never seen this mentioned anywhere before, so it was a really wonderful little surprise.

[drfuriosa · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of my all-time favorites. If there is any author that knows the human mind and heart intimately, it is Eliot. As keen an observer as Austen and a connoisseur of human folly and strength, Eliot incisively exposes the nature of ambition and desire in society.

[clara53_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"Ah, there's enormous patience wanted with the way of the world".  Eliot makes Mr. Farebrother (the vicar) utter this gem of a phrase somewhere closer to the end of her novel.  And it sort of sums it up for me. Apart from being an engrossing saga, this novel is about ethics and moral decisions. It's a sweeping tale of a certain portion of British society with a wide array of characters. Here is love at its most vulnerable and angst at its most poignant, honorable ambition versus the shady one.  And all this with the background of Eliot's gentle philosophizing which is full of humor  that, at times, borders on witty sarcasm, her uncanny insight into the nature of man (or the nature of her characters) and life's meaning. Her political ruminations and clear understanding of politics of her era are impressive, to say the least, as well her sharp perception of human folly and idiosyncrasies, whereupon she is not a judge but a clever observer.And of course - her understanding of the role of women in her society, her forbearing irony on how women were "expected to have weak opinions"  and how "the great safeguard of society and of domestic life was that those opinions were not acted upon" (!!!); how "deep studies, classics, mathematics... are too taxing for a woman", and many more examples of the author poking fun at how most men in her day saw themselves openly superior to women.  Eliot's turn of phrase is exceptional. At first, the sheer intricate eloquence and elaborate phrasing astounds you, makes you take a mental step back to fully appreciate it; but then it grows on you and you become engrossed and loving it! A thoroughly satisfying read.  

[davidroche_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I am on holiday (I refuse to use the term ‘annual leave’, and not because I am self-employed). I love in the summer to take the opportunity to dive into a thick brick of fiction that requires real commitment, and also once in a while to tick off the too-long list of really-should-have-read classics. This year it is Middlemarch (Penguin Classics) by George Eliot and Book One (of eight + ‘Finale’) is a great start. Everything you would expect but just better written than you can imagine.

[arewenotben · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Every bit as good as I was led to believe. Particularly admire the way it looks at events and characters from multiple perspectives, bringing a real richness and complexity to the novel.

[etxgardener · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is one of those books I've never made it all the way through, but this year in the time of Covid, I was determined.Set in a small town in the Midlands of England in 1830, at the start of the coming of the railroads and the First Reform Bill, Middlemarch is a novel of manners in the manner of Jane Austen, but much longer and without a lot of Jane's bite.The story revolves around three marriages: Dorothea Brooke and the Rev. Casaubin, Rosamond Vincy and Tertius Lydgate, and Mary Gath and Fred Vincy. Dorothea is a wealthy and intelligent woman who lives with her uncle Arthur Brooke and her sister Celia. Dorothea has high ideals and wants to use her wealth for projects that will make people's lives better. However, her decision to marry the much older Rev. Casaubon in order to help him with his life's work, The Key to All Mythologies, proves to be disastrous.Rosamond Vincy is a beautiful, but selfish young woman who has social ambitions much above her station. She marries Tertius Lydgate, a brilliant, but poor physician who hopes to make great advances through his research. Unfortunately, there is no money in this which leads to him going into debt, and causing severe problems with his marriage.Mary Garth is the plain, kind, and sensible daughter of Caleb & Susan Garth. She is currently the nurse to the rich Mr. Featherstone. She and Fred Vincy have loved one another since childhood, but she will not marry him while he refuses to work and take life seriously. Fred Vincy has expectations of being Mr. Featherstone's heir, but when he dies and the will is read, he finds himself inheriting nothing. Only then does Fred come to terms with his responsibilities in life, and he and Mary finally wed.There are many, many more characters and subplots, but Elliot is never mean - even to her silliest or most undeserving characters. I'm glad I finally made it through this book.

[drbrand-271246 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Some discouragement, some faintness of heart at the new real future which replaces the imaginary, is not unusual, and we do not expect people to be deeply moved by what is not unusual. That element of tragedy which lies in the very fact of frequency, has not yet wrought itself into the coarse emotion of mankind; and perhaps our frames could hardly bear much of it. If we had a keen vision and feeling of all ordinary human life, it would be like hearing the grass grow and the squirrel's heart beat, and we should die of that roar which lies on the other side of silence. As it is, the quickest of us walk about well wadded with stupidity.Middlemarch is truly one of the greatest novel's I've ever read. With the possible exception of Moby-Dick, it's the most impressive English language novel of the 19th century. The psychological depth with which Eliot imbues her characters is unparalleled. Her wit, sophistication, and literary acumen are present on every page. Perhaps most impressively, the novel manages to express profound moral understanding without ever becoming moralizing. Eliot's philosophical insights into the nature of virtue, sympathy, and social relationships seems to me unparalleled by Dickens, Twain, Dostoevsky, James, Flaubert, or any of the other comparable writers of her era. The only criticism I can muster is that occasionally her syntax can become a bit unwieldy, but this criticism can be leveled (often more justifiably) against any novelist of the 19th century. As such, this observation does nothing to weaken my admiration for Eliot's work. In sum, Middlemarch is something special—something I would recommend to anyone who claims a love of great literature.

[jostie13 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What a perfect book to read at this time in my life, when all the castles in the sky of my youth are settling into quaint little cottages on the ground with creaky floors and plumbing problems. It's about starting adulthood and coming to terms with The Way Things Are: some characters adapt and find happinesses they didn't anticipate, and others remain tied to the misguided ideals of their childhood, only to be greeted with endless disappointment as they age.

Except Dorothea. She ends up getting exactly what she wants. Ms. Eliot loves her some independent woman.

[booklovers2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wonderful Classic British Literature Read - it took me forever to finish as it was a bedside read and only read a few pages a night so with over 1000 pages it took way too long! That said - it was an extremely detailed account of several characters who resided in Middlemarch and their journey through coming of maturity for somes, coming of power, for others, coming of love, and coming to exposure of prior acts. I looked forward to these characters and got to know them, I feel intimately with their strengths, weaknesses, good decisions, bad decisions and rooting for them all to attain their desires. The main character Miss Brooke was a young woman who just wanted to do the right thing, develop meaningful solutions to things she sees as problems in her community and find someone to share her intellect. She marries an older Mr Casaubon who according to her sister is ugly and old and not a good match - but Dorothea wants to help Mr Casaubon with his research papers and anticipated being his partner in conversation and intellect. He however is just in awe that this young woman wants him and needs someone to help him read due to his failing vision, with no acknowledgement of her intellect being otherwise useful to him (other than secretarial perhaps). They travel to Rome for their honeymoon which is really a work/research event for Casaubon leaving Dorothea to fend for herself. She meets up with Will Ladislaw the young nephew fo Casaubon and develops a friendship which eventually will lead to heartache and heartbreak for her, Will and Mr Casaubon. Other main characters include Fred Vincy, Mary Garth, Dr Lyngate and Rosamond Vincy. After journeying with each of them to find their way through difficult times the book does not disappoint in summarizing at the end of where they are at writing of the book which is always a treat. Long but I truly enjoyed it as it was full with all the good makings.

[aliceanna-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I found this book terribly difficult to get into, but once past the first section, it got better and better. The problem with the start is that Dorothea does not appear to be that likable of a character and I really need to be able to connect or sympathize with one or more of the main characters in order to really enjoy a book. Dorothea does become a much more sympathetic character and her strength of mind certainly appealed to me. Middlemarch is an epic but not in the way that I have come to think of epic works. It is an epic of the thoughts and motivations and strengths and weaknesses of those very human beings who populate the novel. The book slowly builds reaching a quiet crescendo that satisfies the reader who has invested the time and effort into reading it. I learned early on that Middlemarch was best enjoyed by reading it slowly, a little at a time and letting it ferment. Although the reading was a little tedious at times, the payoff was worth it.

[k6gst · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

My brother-in-law saw me reading it at Thanksgiving.“Whatcha reading?”“Middlemarch, by George Eliot.”“What’s it about?”“English provincial life in the 1830s. Marriages, other signifiers of social standing, ruinous debt, the Reform Act of 1832, other stuff. My jam.”“Cool.”Though it did have some earlier devotees (Virignia Woolf and Emily Dickenson), it wasn’t really recognized until the middle of the 20th century. Now it’s frequently mentioned as perhaps the best English novel.At times I found it to be kind of a bear. A lot of people bog down and don’t get past the first 75 pages or so. But if you can hang on for the first 500 pages, the last 300 really pick up. The final paragraph was very affecting.

[sethwilpan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I listened to this book, read by Kate Reading, who was fabulous. I loved Eliot's language and her keen and pithy observations

[darthdeverell · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In Middlemarch, George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) examines life in the fictional Midlands town of Middlemarch, focusing on various characters and their intersecting narratives in order to examine women’s role in society, the place of religion, contemporary politics, and more. Eliot’s writing comments on the internalized misogyny of her time. In one instance, Mrs. Vincy says in conversation with Rosamond, “Oh, my dear, you must allow for young men. Be thankful if they have good hearts. A woman must lean to put up with little things. You will be married some day” (pg. 105). This view of marriage runs through most of the book, with both Dorothea and Lydgate experiencing failed marriages. Eliot continues, “[Mrs. Garth] was not without her criticism of [her neighbors] in return, being more accurately instructed than most matrons in Middlemarch, and… apt to be a little severe towards her own sex, which in her opinion was framed to be entirely subordinate. On the other hand, she was disproportionately indulgent towards the failings of men, and was often heard to say that these were natural” (pg. 262).In discussing the role of art, Will Ladislaw and Dorothea Casaubon debate the work of Tamburlaine, which Will argues represents “earthquakes and volcanoes” as well as “migrations of races and clearings of forests – and America and the stream-engine” (pg. 231). Change runs as a through-line in the book, specifically the Reform Act of 1867, which doubled the adult male enfranchisement rate in England and Wales. Eliot begins hinting at this as she discusses the role of politics in rural life (chapter 18). Further discussions of art include references to significant authors of the day, including Sir Walter Scott, Lady Blessington, and L.E.L. (Letitia Elizabeth Landon), the poet (pg. 291).In a lengthy aside on politics, Eliot writes, “The doubt hinted by Mr. Vincy whether it were only the general election or the end of the world that was coming on, now that George the Fourth was dead. Parliament dissolved, Wellington and Peel generally depreciated, and the new king apologetic was a feeble type of the uncertainties in provincial opinion at that time. With the glow-worm lights of country places, how could men see which were their own thoughts in the confusion of a Tory ministry passing Liberal measures, of Tory nobles and electors being anxious to return Liberals rather than friends of the recreant ministers, and of outcries for remedies which seemed to have a mysteriously remote bearing on private interest and were made suspicious by the advocacy of disagreeable neighbours?” (pg. 383). Here, then, is material that sheds light on the rapid political changes occurring in the latter half of the nineteenth century. While the book can be slow at times, Eliot’s commentary on social issues, in particular the dynamics of marriage and political change, will be of interest to anyone studying the late-Victorian era.

[ainjel-3 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Is it blasphemous to say this book disappointed me?

Listen. It's a fine story. There's nothing inherently wrong with it. It's a lovely look at provincial life, full of the drama and romantic tension one expects from 19th century literature. But that's-- all it was to me. It was nothing special, nothing life hanging.

I liked it, sure, but maybe I wasn't in the mood to appreciate it.

I'm glad I read it, but I doubt I'll be picking it up again any time soon.

[xiaomarlo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's most interesting in the ways she differs from Austen. Much more political and philosophical and concerned with morals and the class system. I liked how it swept over many of the citizens of Middlemarch. It was about the whole town.

[fuzzi_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A thoughtful yet entertaining read about the people and customs of an English town from the earlier part of the 19th century. The characters are very well drawn, their personalities are not superficial, and I was willingly dragged into the story, something I expect a very well-written book should do. This tale is never boring, but as the sentences often have deeper meanings one needs to take time to read this work slowly, unhurried, and without distraction. Quite good and worth the time and effort. Solid.

[sweet_serenity · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A very nicely written book that gives a rounded view of the town of Middlemarch by bringing together the points of view of a cast of different characters. The book went deep into the psychology of each character which was intriguing, and I really loved the characters of Dorothea and Mary. The book has a strong thoughtful streak, and George Eliot has a lot of insightful things to say about the world. It is also a very realistic book, no wild gothic drama.

On the downside, it is a very long book, and I did lose interest in some parts, particularly in Bulstrode & Lydgate's chapters. And the ending was a little unsatisfying.

What books would I compare this to? Well, it has a dash of Vanity Fair in its past perspective & ambition, a streak of Le Miserable in its ensemble cast, a dollop of Dickens with its ideology, and a hint of Austen in its wit.

I wouldn't recommend this as light reading, but if you have the time to commit to it, it is really a quite special book.

[nx74defiant · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Tales of people, how other's expectations don't match the reality.