24 | August | 2012 | A Small Press Life: Books. Art. Writing. Life. Tea.

Title: George Eliot A Life
Author: Rosemary Ashton
Year Published: 1996 (Penguin Books)
Year Purchased: 2007
Source: A discount bookstore in New York.
About: I have a lot of nice things to say about this biography, but the words refuse to line up in the right order. If I wrote down what I was thinking, it wouldn’t make any sense to you. Actually, I tried. About five times, and it didn’t make any sense to me, either. In an effort to get my point across in a straightforward way, and not drive myself crazy whilst doing so, I’m going to toss some descriptive and applicable words at you: Thoughtful. Intelligent. Careful. Illuminating. Human. Measured. Absorbing. Interesting. Appropriate. Subtle. George Eliot is one of my favourite English-language novelists of the 19th century. Her books bear reading and stand up to repeated visits. So does Ashton’s biography.
Motivation: I like George Eliot’s work. I love biographies to the point of near obsession.
Times Read: 2
Random Excerpt/Page 72: “Her isolated position high up in her foreign attic, poised between a past life of much frustration and under-achievement and an unknown future, encouraged her penchant for thorough analysis and turned it inward. Sara had worried about her state of mind and her ability to cope alone. Mary Ann replied that she did quite enough worrying on her own account. Solicitude which expressed itself in criticism was not helpful.”
Happiness Scale: 9
English: George Eliot (Photo credit: Wikipedia)