George Eliot
The Mill on the Floss
"The Mill on the Floss" by George Eliot is a novel published in 1860. It follows siblings Tom and Maggie Tulliver as they grow up at their family's mill in rural England. Their close but troubled bond is tested by family bankruptcy, forbidden friendships, and conflicting desires. Maggie struggles between her passionate nature and social duty, caught between her intellectual connection with Philip Wakem and her attraction to Stephen Guest. The novel explores the tension between personal yearning and family loyalty in provincial Victorian society.