Beginning ~ with beauty

Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life ~ by George Eliot, 1872, fiction (England)

"Miss Brooke had that kind of beauty which seems to be thrown into relief by poor dress."

The version of this novel that I have in hand is 838 pages long, and it has another 15 pages of footnotes.  It's a heavy tome, in other words!  Why, oh why, would I embark on such a thick book?  Because the library in University City, my suburb of St. Louis, is discussing it this summer.  They started before I got here — or at least before I got settled in and learned about their book club.

George Eliot is the pen name of Mary Ann Evans, who published the sections of this novel in 86 short chapters and a Finale over a two-year period.  I have no idea why these were collected into eight "books" within this heavy volume.

Book I ~ Chapters 1-12
Book II ~ Chapters 13-22
Book III ~ Chapters 23-33
Book IV ~ Chapters 34-42
Book V ~ Chapters 43-53
Book VI ~ Chapters 54-62
Book VII ~ Chapters 63-71
Book VIII ~ Chapters 72-86

The library divided this summer's discussion into three parts.  They've already looked at Books 1-2-3, which I missed.  Books 4-5-6 are next week, and Books 7-8 are in August.  I found a character list online, which shows about three dozen people.  I wonder if I'll be able to keep them all straight in my mind.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Fridays.  Click here for today's Mister Linky.