English literature Victorian England. George Eliot, pen name of Mary Ann Evans (1819–1880), was a major novelist of the mid-Victorian period. Her works, especially "Middlemarch" (1871–72), are important examples of literary realism, and are admired for their combination of high Victorian literary detail, with an intellectual breadth that removes them from the narrow geographic confines they often depict. George Meredith (1828–1909) is best remembered for his novels "The Ordeal of Richard Feverel" (1859), and "The Egoist" (1879). "His reputation stood very high well into" the 20th-century but then seriously declined. An interest in rural matters and the changing social and economic situation
Mary Ann Tocker wrote to Richard's brother, the Vicar of Paul, and his answer revealed that his family had all but disowned Richard. On 6 June, 1817, an anonymous letter appeared in the "West Briton" signed, ‘ An enemy to corruption.’ The writers of the letter were Mary Ann and Henry Tocker. They exposed Richard's corrupt behaviour as Vice-warden of the Stannaries. When Richard Gurney put pressure on the editor of the "West Briton" to reveal the name of the writer, Mary Ann confessed that she was the writer of the letter. As Richard had the power to prevent Henry from ever succeeding