IT’S regarded as one of the greatest English novels ever – and now the George Eliot Fellowship is staging a major festival to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the renowned work Middlemarch.
Written by George Eliot – actually the female author Mary Anne Evans – it turns the spotlight on an English provincial town of the 1820s and 1830s and the characters, their beliefs and society of that period.
But where was that fictitious provincial town modelled on?
Eliot spent the first 21 years of her life in Nuneaton before moving to Coventry and eventually to London.
Her great novel was completed in 1870-71 and despite mixed reviews at the time has come to be regarded as one of the greatest in the English language.
To mark its 150th anniversary the Fellowship in her name has put together a packed, month-long list of events in celebration.
It starts next Friday, August 26 with an official – and free – opening by the mayor of Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council, Coun Jeff Clarke, at Nuneaton Museum and Art Gallery and readings from Eliot’s work.
She also wrote a host of other classics, including the Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner and Daniel Deronda.
Four weeks of events will follow featuring music, songs and talks in celebration of one of the true giants of English literature, before closing on Saturday, September 24 with ‘Finding Middlemarch in Coventry’ by Ruth Livesay.
For more visit https://www.georgeeliot.org/
