George Eliot

Hetty Sorrel is loved by Adam Bede but she is in love with a young squire who seduces her and by whom she has a child. Hetty kills the child by abandoning it in a field and is tried and sentenced to death for murder.

One of the greatest English authors of the 19th Century, George Eliot is renowned for her realistic storytelling and insight into the human psyche. This BBC Radio collection presents dramatisations of her five most famous novels, as well as an exploration of her life through her fictional characters.

George Eliot's beloved story of life, love and politics in an English town. Its epic arc takes in politics, tragedy, romance and comedy, interweaving multiple narratives to make up a thrilling ensemble tale. 

Set in the 1830s, idealistic Dorothea Brooke accepts a proposal from scholarly Edward Casaubon, hoping to forge a loving partnership of intellectual equals. But on honeymoon in Rome, she swiftly becomes disillusioned.

Meanwhile, mayor's son Fred Vincy embarks on a steep economic learning curve, risking his burgeoning relationship with Mary Garth. When he contracts typhoid, he is treated by the town's new medical man, who becomes drawn to Fred's sister. Eager to win her hand, the doctor seeks help from the wealthy Mr Bulstrode - a decision he will come to regret... 

Dorothea Brooke marries the pedantic scholar Casaubon, in a quest for intellectual fulfilment. The marriage is unhappy but after his death she is trapped by the terms of his will. Other characters include the charming Dr Lydgate and the religious hypocrite Bulstrode.

Growing up at Dorlcote Mill in the beautiful English countryside, young Maggie yearns for approval and affection. With her dark, striking looks and quick intelligence she is the misfit of the Tulliver family, and while her father dotes on her, her mother despairs of her rebelliousness. But it is the love of her stolid, dutiful brother Tom that Maggie craves most, and despite their opposing natures, the two forge a close bond.

But as adults, their paths diverge. Tom leaves school and enters the world of business, determined to repay the family's debts and regain their home. Maggie, meanwhile, is drawn to two very different men. As she struggles to reconcile passion and loyalty, the choices Maggie makes will set her against her beloved brother - with tragic consequences...

Brought up at Dorlcote Mill, Maggie Tulliver worships her brother Tom and is desperate to win the approval of her parents, but her passionate, wayward nature and her fierce intelligence bring her into constant conflict with her family. As she reaches adulthood, the clash between their expectations and her desires is painfully played out as she finds herself torn between her relationships with three very different men: her proud and stubborn brother, a close friend who is also the son of her family's worst enemy, and a charismatic but dangerous suitor. With its poignant portrayal of sibling relationships, The Mill on the Floss is considered George Eliot's most autobiographical novel; it is also one of her most powerful and moving.

In the quiet world of rural English clergy, lives are full of challenges, conflicts, desires and expectations. George Eliot's first published work of fiction (1857) comprises three separate stories and has the hallmarks of her famous later works-her gentle wit and clever satire, her psychological insight, and her keen observation of human nature and frailty. These are beautifully written and poignant tales, set in and around the fictional Midlands town of Milby.

Reverend Amos Barton has a tough time as the new curate in Shepperton, in "The Sad Fortunes of the Reverend Amos Barton"; in "Mr Gilfil's Love Story," Maynard Gilfil is in love with an Italian orphan called Tina, who becomes the central focus of the story; and in "Janet's Repentance," Edgar Tryan, an evangelical, helps Janet to overcome the abuse of her husband.

When a lonely linen-weaver's gold is stolen from his cottage, nothing consoles him until the arrival of a young child changes his life.