A TLS BOOK OF THE YEAR

What every lover of George Eliot's work wants- a new novel made from her life and mind



Marian Evans is a scandalous figure, living in sin with a married man, George Henry Lewes. She has shocked polite society. In secret, though, she has begun writing fiction under the pseudonym George Eliot. As Adam Bede's fame grows, curiosity rises. Gradually it becomes apparent that the moral genius Eliot is none other than the disgraced woman.

Now celebrity begins. The world falls in love with her. She is the wise and great writer, sent to guide people through the increasingly secular, rudderless century. Public opinion shifts. Her scandals, forgiven. But this idyll is not secure and cannot last. When Lewes dies, Evans finds herself in danger of shocking the world all over again.

Meanwhile, in another century, two women compete to arrive at an interpretation of Eliot as writer and as woman...



'The Eliot strand predominates as if Eliot herself was dictating like a whispering ghost.'
-Mary Leland, Irish Examiner

' A sensitive, impeccably researched and deeply pleasurable debut novel...As the best historical novels do, it absorbs the reader to such an extent that, even if they know the outline of the story, each page is a revelation.'
-The Economist

'O'Shaughnessy's writing is full of delicious words ... and brilliant descriptions. She is full of keen insights into Evans's character ... This is an astute, skilful book.'
-Literary Review