George Eliot

Eliot, George (Mary Ann Evans; 1819–80), English novelist. Her writing was distinguished by a subtle style and compassionate understanding of character. Through her work for the Westminster Review she met writer George Henry Lewes, who recognized her talent and encouraged her to write. They lived together from 1854 till his death in 1878. From 1858 to 1866 she published Scenes of Clerical Life, Adam Bede, The Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner, Romola, and Felix Holt the Radical. Middlemarch (1871–72) is generally considered her finest work.