George Eliot's masterful portrayal of rural nineteenth-century society, with a new introduction by Professor Kathryn Hughes. Maggie Tulliver and her brother Tom enjoy a close friendship and a rural childhood on the banks of the river Floss. But the approach of adulthood brings tension to their relationship. Intelligent and fiery Maggie tests the boundaries of nineteenth-century society in her search for love, while Tom embraces convention and accepts his father's desire for