Adam Bede

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Undoubtedly I have before mentioned what fun and fascination is to be had in reading books from another time period. Sometimes the modern reader can experience great surprise in hearing authors express social ideas and opinions that are still relevant over a century later! And then there are those times where the development of a story can prove a little tricky to understand or appreciate. This was a little bit the case with the last book that I finished: George Eliot’s first novel, Adam Bede.

The book tells the story of swarthy and respected country carpenter Adam Bede, a man with brawn and brains who is also a little in touch with his emotional side. He is secretly, but passionately in love with the pretty, but vain Hetty Sorrel. Sadly, Hetty’s head is turned towards the rich and charming Captain Donnithorne, one of Adam’s most admired and respected friends, and disaster strikes when Adam discovers their amore and Donnithorne leaves the parish. A heartbroken Hetty runs away in a vain search for her lover, only to discover poverty, loneliness, and disgrace that even Adam with his tender love cannot sooth.

Eliot’s novel has been celebrated as a great work of literary realism, painting a wonderfully rich picture of the countryside in the English Midlands as well as insightful glimpses into the inner workings of her labourer characters. Although famously agnostic, Eliot writes about the Christian ethical schema of confession, forgiveness, and redemption in a way that is strangely captivating – even to the modern reader – and provides much of the story with its juicy drama during the climax in this way.

The phonetic dialogue provides a challenge for the modern reader, a little like Wuthering Heights does, but the book’s central messages as well as its incredible exploration into the contrasting social and emotional dilemmas of the characters does not in any way get lost or misunderstood. 

It’s a slow burn book, where the action is not so much what drives it, but the joy of getting enveloped in lengthy paragraphs of description and monologue keeps you turning pages. While I am not entirely sure that I’ll read it again in a hurry, I was still able to power through it faster than I have some other books from the same period, so I clearly enjoyed the experience it offered. 

Author: George Eliot, 1859

Published: W. Blackwood & Sons (London), 1859