Felix Holt
George Eliot
Took Gill over six weeks to read. Set in 1832, just after passing
of Reform Act, which enfranchised more of the middle classes. A
lot of politics and non-conformist religion makes heavy weather
of the first part of the book but the plot gets going eventually,
though it's a 2-bookmark book (i.e. one to hold your place in the
story, one in the notes). An interesting fact is that reading the
Riot Act actually forms a part of the story (when 12 or more
people gather together and start to get a bit riotous an
authorised person - in this case a Rector- reads out the Riot Act
which gives them one hour to disperse or they are committing a
felony (in which case the troops are called in).
George Eliot herself was not in favour of votes for women
unless they were educated. It does have a good plot and is worth
reading. Like a Dickens novel, lawyers are the villains.
Gill 23/2/03
By the same author
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