The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot with guest John Bennion Reality Raincheck

George Eliot, who's actual name is Mary Ann Evans, was one of the best Victorian authors to have emerged from England. Join us in this book club chat with author John Bennion, and former BYU professor of the British novel. While this novel has slow beginnings, the pace quickens and provides such a complicated love triangle, one is left wondering how things will possibly conclude. As with many victorian novels, the answer to that question is “tragically”. We try to rewrite the ending and come to the conclusion that though tragic, Eliot knew exactly what she was doing. To have an alternate ending would have required the heroine, Maggie Tulliver, to have been untrue to herself. This book is in part autobiographical, as it has echoes of Eliot's upbringing, and her later estrangement from her brother.