Book excerpt: George Eliot rises to the forefront from amongst prominent Victorian novelists alongside the likes of Charles Dickens or Thomas Carlyle. Her novels capture the pastoral setting of old England: a countryside still devoid of railways and the bustle of city life outside of London. The natures of her characters are psychologically complex and fully developed as they struggle over moral duty, love, vice, and rebirth. Many of her characters strive to do what is right but instead reflect the adage that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Contents: Middlemarch The Mill on the Floss Silas Marner The Lifted Veil