In Love with George Eliot

O’Shaughnessy crafts in her luminous debut an evocative portrait of English author George Eliot. After Marian Evans arrives in London from Coventry in 1851 to work on the Westminster Review, she falls in love with the married George Henry Lewes, a philosopher and writer, and they scandalize Victorian society by openly living together. After Marian publishes several novels in the 1860s under the pen name of George Eliot (the secret of her identity doesn’t last long, but the revelation doesn’t adversely affect her books’ popularity or literary acclaim), she and George meet Johnny Cross, a young banker who manages their finances and falls in love with Marian. But it’s Marian’s emotional and intellectual connection with George—not always perfect—that sustains her. After George dies in 1878, Johnny and Marian spend more time together, and, despite Johnny’s confusion about his sexual desires, he presses for marriage, to which Marian consents. While a present-day parallel narrative about an academic who’s writing a novel on Eliot adds little, O’Shaughnessy handles the passion and drama between Marian and Johnny with aplomb. Historical fiction fans won’t want to miss this. (Oct.)