A passionate young woman's search for a rewarding and meaningful life unfolds in Middlemarch, an English town taking its first steps toward modernization. From tradesmen to gentry, the provincial community's residents form a microcosm of political and social change during the 1830s. The shifting perspectives ― including those of idealistic Dorothea Brooke, ambitious Dr. Lydgate, prodigal Fred Vincy, and faithful Mary Garth ― provide a timeless array of observations on human nature, drawn with su