#Victober: Ranking George Eliot's Novels!

Which George Eliot-novel is my favorite?

And: I said Romola is set in Venice but it's Florence, of course. *Eyeroll at myself*

Victober Hosts:

Eliot’s novels / in order of pub date:

Not included in the ranking:

Connect with me:

I also wrote some books:

also available in Dutch, French, Italian, Danish, Greek, Hebrew and Turkish

Crime fiction, as Britta Bolt (together with writer Rodney Bolt)
The Posthumus Mysteries:
- Lonely Graves (2014)
- Lives Lost (2015)
- Deadly Secrets (June 2016)

also available in German:
- Das Büro der einsamen Toten (2015)
- Das Haus der verlorenen Seelen (2016)
- Der Tote im fremden Mantel (February 2017)

and in Dutch:
- Heldhaftig (2012)
- Vastberaden (2014)
- Barmhartig (2016)

[MIDDLEoftheBookMARCH]

I had to prepare myself to watching this video in case we ended up fighting!!! LOL!!!

We're good. :)

This may be a long comment... Your ranking makes perfect sense to me. I knew Romola was your favorite. And I loved what you said about the complexity of Middlemarch. All too true.

Some of the reasons I LOVE Eliot may be some of the reasons she may annoy you. I love her realism. She was socially liberal, but moralistically quite traditional. She wrote women as in the roles modeled to her in her era. I had a discussion with Sonya @anenthusiastic reader about Adam Bede and the ending. The female minister Dinah. Eliot wrote very strong female characters that, at the end of the day, fell into traditional female roles of the time. But, she took a male name because of the inherent sexism shown to female authors! They were emotionally and intellectually strong, but didn't advance above their "status". She was NOT an eager feminist but she cared very deeply for the right of women to get an education. She had a very complex relationship with religion -- another reason I LOVE her writing. She consistently grapples with and challenges religious concepts, giving women strong voices in religious conversations.

My ranking?

8. Romola (great book, not my favorite)
7. Silas Marner (great start to Eliot's writing)
6. Mill on the Floss
5. Scenes of Clerical Life (not included in your ranking)
4. Felix Holt the Radical
3. Adam Bede
2. Daniel Deronda
1. Middlemarch

One of my favorite fun facts about her? She was almost "outed" by Charles Dickens as being a woman author! He couldn't believe a man wrote Scenes of Clerical Life, and wrote her a fan letter at the publication of Adam Bede addressed, "Dear Madam..." LOL!

[CafeCynthia]

What a fantastic ranking of her novels! I read them all on audio, I'm wondering if I'd enjoy them even more by physically reading them. Maybe I'll have that as a goal for 2025. Thank you for your great descriptions on them!

[kleptomanical]

It is so refreshing to see Romola praise. Definitely my favorite book of all time. I’d even argue that it is her best book, after all, she wrote it with her “best blood”!

[georgedeoso]

I love how you emphasize how there's something wrong with Mill on the Floss haha! I haven't read it, and I might read it last once I finally begin binge reading Elliot's works. Thanks for this ranking!

[davidnovak]

I was biting my nails when you get to the last two. You see, those are the only ones I’ve read. _Romola_ so far is the best book I’ve read all year, and yes it nudges out _Middlemarch_ IMHO. Or more than a nudge.

Florence, I think. 🙂

[barbaraboethling]

Super video. I've read all her novels except Felix Holt, and I read them all many years ago, so my memories are very fuzzy. I can only state a preference by the vague impressions left floating around in my aging brain, i.e., which books intrigued me enough to make me think at the time I read them. I rank them so:
1. Romola
2. Daniel Deronda
3. Middlemarch
4. Silas Marner
5. Adam Bede
6. Mill on the Floss
...anything else
I think I'd rather reread Romola and Middlemarch, than read Felix Holt for the first time.

[katehowereads]

So fun to see where our rankings are similar and where they diverge! I too have found that Felix Holt just didn't stick with me unfortunately.
I am a very enthusiastic fan of Adam Bede and I think it's because I really felt a connection to the characters. I can see how it wouldn't be as big of a hit if you didn't connect with the characters.
Romola is one that challenged me so much and I felt that my read of it only scratched the surface. I look forward to reading it many more times!
I am still perplexed by the ending of The Mill On the Floss. It just seems so out of nowhere and abrupt?
Lovely to hear you unpack your relationship with each book!

[BookishTexan]

I enjoyed your video about George Eliot’s novels more than I enjoyed reading either of the GE novels I read.🤓

[SpringboardThought]

This was great! I really need to get around to picking one up. 😮

[AbdulRahim-wdki]

What sets apart you from other booktubers is that you explain and give respectable time space for every novel you read. A great addition once again.

[cherylynlarking]

Great reviews of all the books. I have started Middlemarch however I am now eager to read Romola now. These novels were all so rich in their descriptions of life and mores of that time.

[sarawilson]

I have only read Middlemarch, and I loved it. After watching your video, I’ll try and fit in Silas Marner this Victober, but it will be a squeeze! The list is long this year! I am enjoying your Victober videos, thank you.

[MarilynMayaMendoza]

Hi Britta, I’m almost finished with the first part of Middlemarch Miss Brooke and really loving it. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book like it and I’m glad I prepared to read it. I want to read Daniel Deronda next. Aloha

[janicemacdougall]

I have all these novels on my TBR because of your videos, so thank you. 😊. I am so happy you really like Middlemarch! I am reading it for the 2nd time with a group on Goodreads. I love it! I hope to read her other novels in the years to come. 😊

[GemofBooks]

I’ve just started The Mill on the Floss, and it’s my first Eliot 😬
Loved hearing your thoughts on all of her novels 🧡

[bouquinsbooks]

I have read Silas Marner and I am about at the halfway point of Middlemarch. I did not like Silas Marner very much. I found the writing style difficult to read and did not care much for the story. Halfway three Middlemarch, I love it. I find it very funny (I think Eliot is gently mocking every character in the book), but I am also completely invested in the story. I want to know what will happen to the characters. Romola sounds right up my alley. This could be the next Eliot I will read.

[iiling]

Like you, I absolutely adore Romola! Just finished it today and am digesting it all slowly. At this point in time, my tops would be, on equal par, Middlemarch, Daniel Deronda and Romola, all taking first spots for various reasons but most invitingly for me is GE's mastery of the language which shines brilliantly in every single one of these books. I would have to do a reread (which I look forward to!) in order to rank them. I am just a little saddened by the fact that a book like Romola is not as well acclaimed as the others.

[penelopegough]

I had decided that 2022 would be my year for reading these novels influenced by your reading and videos.
I read Adam Bede early in the year, enjoyed it and then life got in the way. Still have Middlemarch on my radar before the end of the year. Better hurry up 🤨 loved the BBC production of Romola yeas ago and really wanted to read that one. I will but not sure when 🥹 soon!!!

[emmavd]

Thanks, Britta!🌷I’ve only read Middlemarch (twice) and The Mill on the Floss (I liked it, but once was enough, btw I couldn’t stand the brother either). Daniel Deronda will be next, but I don’t think I’ll manage to read it this year. I also have Silas Marner, and hearing again your enthusiasm for Romola, that will be joining my George Eliot collection soon. By the way, I also have a novel by Kathy O’Shaughnessy, In Love with George Eliot, which is actually a well researched fictionalised biography. I look forward to reading that too. I definitely need more free time!

[scallydandlingaboutthebooks]

I have a greater fondness for Adam Bede than you and I think Middlemarch hangs on to top spot for me, but I was rather pleased to see Romola as your favourite. It is the Eliot novel that surprised me most and such a glorious central character. Mill on the Floss is definitely my least favourite. I forgive its faults somewhat knowing it is her most autobiographical novel. It feels like her feelings about her own brother distort the book somehow. In all her books I enjoy observing her dilemmas about religion and morality, how she is pulled between the conventional views of the period and her upbringing and the rational conclusions stimulated by her intellectual and political development. Thanks for making this video.