The Mill on the Floss

First published in 1860, this novel follows Maggie Tulliver and her brother Tom, children of a miller on the River Floss near St Ogg's. Mr Tulliver goes to law, loses Dorlcote Mill, and dies, leaving Tom to restore the family name by hard work and Maggie to hunger for books, music, and a wider life than the mill allows. She is drawn to Philip Wakem, son of her father's enemy, and later to Stephen Guest, who is all but engaged to her cousin Lucy. Gossip, duty, and the river close in on the brother and sister. The book is a provincial novel of family and self-division, not a tract on milling.

Bound in dark red cloth blocked with a gilt design. Dark green slipcase.