‘George Eliot’s Network of Readers’

In light of our 90th anniversary Gail will speak about George Eliot and networks, with the GEF alluded to as being a form of network of readers. She is intrigued by how the Victorians used 'networks' in different ways to us, and would love the chance and excuse to pursue this further in her presentation.

Anyone wanting to take part can register here or email gef1930@gmail.com you will then be given the meeting details.

Anyone who has prevoiusly paid will be refunded.

This event has been cancelled due to new quarantine restrictions between geneva and the UK.

Anyone who has paid will be refunded.

Valerie Fehlbaum recently retired from the University of Geneva. She has been working on a dramatic presentation of the life of George Eliot’s older sister, Chrissey Evans.

We know how fond Mary Ann was of her sister and how distressed she was by the ill-fortune that dogged her, from ailing children to a marriage plagued by financial worries despite her husband’s position as a doctor in Meriden, to a premature death at the time that her younger sister was becoming famous and rich.

Valerie will present her one woman presentation of Chrissey for the first time at this event

CANCELLED DUE TO LOCKDOWN

This is the annual meal to commemorate the birthday of George Eliot. The first one took place in 1931 and apart from the war years it has been held every year since. Weston Hall is a distinguished looking Jacobean building, once home to the local aristocracy. George Eliot’s aunt and her husband are buried in Bulkington and they lived at nearby, but now demolished, Marston Hall. There are some who think Bulkington was a model for Raveloe in Silas Marner.

Guest of honour will be Lesley Smith, who devised and performed her own one-woman show on the life of George Eliot and performed it three times during the bicentenary year.

Also present will be our president, Jonathan Ouvry and his wife, and the Mayor  of Nuneaton and Bedworth , Cllr Joan Tandy and her consort.

Please email gef1930@gmail.com or johnkburton43@gmail.com to book a ticket for this event

For access details contact gef1930@gmail.com

John Burton has been chair of the Fellowship since 2006. He is as passionate about local history as he is about Eliot and this presentation, shown in parts before, will include more details on early dramatic adaptations of George Eliot’s novels in her home town. It will also demonstrate how local government and local businesses tried to capitalise on the famous name, and the place of local artists in publicising her.

Guest of honour - Dr John Rignall

John Rignall is one of the unsung heroes of the Fellowship and we are delighted that he accepted our invitation to lay the wreath for the Fellowship. John was one of our first vice-presidents and a great supporter of Kathleen and Bill Adams during the time they ran the Fellowship, support he continued to give when I took over in 2006.

John has been editor or co-editor of the George Eliot Review since the mid-1990s and a judge of the annual George Eliot Essay Prize since its inception in 1993 and a Vice-President since 1995. He is a frequent speaker at our events and a regular leader of our study groups.

Natalie Marlow

Finding George Eliot Country: reading the landscape of central England through the work of George Eliot

Natalie Marlow is an academic and a writer. This paper will draw on her PhD research and chimes with recent renewed interest in the sense of place in writers’ work. Natalie is also publishing a novel, publication date to be confirmed, and we will be interested to invite Natalie to tell us how George Eliot’s written Midlands informs her creative work.

Gabriel Woolf and Rosalind Shanks

Journeys Through Middlemarch or The George Eliot Roadshow

Gabriel Woolf has been a key part of the success of the Fellowship since 1969 when he did his first oneman selection of readings from George Eliot at the invitation of Kathleen Adams, then newly installed secretary of the Fellowship. In some small measure we were able to say thank you to Gabriel, for many years now accompanied by Rosalind Shanks, for those 50 years of dedicated love for and sharing of George Eliot, by inviting him to speak at the bicentenary event in Westminster Abbey in 2019 and by a special thank you presentation at the 2019 Readings, shown in the picture. He and Rosalind have taken their readings all over the world, especially to America, but because of the pandemic in 2020 we were not able to proceed with a 51st presentation. So we were delighted that Gabriel and Rosalind have agreed to present a special 150th anniversary selection of readings from Middlemarch. Also included are some personal memories of their presentations over the last five decades. It will be a unique experience. We hope Coventry residents, now enjoying the early stages of City of Culture 2021, will travel north to hear wonderful readings from the book which drew on memories of their city in the 1830s and 1840s.

Professor Vinod Patel

“George Eliot’s Middlemarch and its relevance to modern healthcare”

Professor Vinod Patel encourages his medical students to read Middlemarch and to present their thoughts and ideas provoked by the great novel, first published 150 years ago. Our Chairman, John Burton, sat in on their presentations at the end of 2019 and was fascinated by the relevance of Eliot’s work to modern day medicine.

Some years ago we worked closely with George Eliot Hospital to provide lectures relevant to medicine and George Eliot. They were presented alternate years by the Hospital and the Fellowship. This year’s Annual lecture picks up on that earlier co-operation.

Anyone wanting to take part can register here or email gef1930@gmail.com you will then be given the meeting details.

This is the annual meal to commemorate the birthday of George Eliot. The first one took place in 1930 and apart from the war years it has been held every year since. Weston Hall is a distinguished looking Jacobean building, once home to the local aristocracy. George Eliot’s aunt and her husband are buried in Bulkington and they lived at nearby, but now demolished, Marston Hall. There are some who think Bulkington was a model for Raveloe in Silas Marner.

Guest of honour will be Lesley Smith, who devised and performed her own one-woman show on the life of George Eliot and performed it three times during the bicentenary year.

 Lesley Smith is known and admired all over the Midlands for her presentations of the lives of strong and interesting women, from Elizabeth l to Margaret Thatcher. She performs in beautifully designed and historically correct costume, extensively researched. Lesley has a PhD in Tudor medicine and is curator at Tutbury castle, near Burton-on-Trent.

She loved researching and reading George Eliot and has incorporated her into her repertoire of strong and famous women. The picture shows her in the George Eliot costume when she appeared at Weston Hall during the bicentenary year.

The closing date for bookings is Friday 29th October 2021

George Eliot, Middlemarch and the Coventry Years

This new presentation by David Paterson will be eagerly anticipated by regular delegates. His last work, Fair Seed-Time examined the historical background to the writings of George Eliot by examining the relationship between Robert Evans and the Newdigates. This  talk examines the (perceived) similarities between Middlemarch and Coventry followed by the more general effects of her Coventry years on George Eliot’s writing of Middlemarch.

Transforming Middlemarch

This is a fascinating project being undertaken by Professor Justin Smith and his team at De Montford University, Leicester. Dr Lucy Hobbs and Dr Anna Blackwell are lead members. The team is researching and producing a resource on the Andrew Davies 1994 adaptation of Middlemarch.

We will hear about the project and the aims and nature of the Digital edition, followed by questions about the project or the TV adaptation. There will then be a 20 minute workshop on a clip from the TV series alongside scripts from different points in the script development process; and a 10 minute feedback session to end it.

Polly Button

Before lockdown we were treated to some music from the then developing folk opera about the murder of local woman Polly Button in 1832. In February Katherine Fear’s wonderful production was a sell out at Abbey Theatre. The narrator is George Eliot. Katherine and other cast members will tell us how the production happened and treat us to some excerpts.

Shakespeare’s Sister

Dr Valerie Fehlbaum is well-known to the Fellowship for her clear and precise lectures. Here she covers new ground for us by presenting her monologue on Shakespeare’s sister. In September’s Festival we hope Valerie will perform her monologue on George Eliot’s sister Chrissey. The link? George Eliot was described by a critic as ‘The Female Shakespeare, so to speak’

CANCELLED - Unfortunately we have to cancel this tour due to insufficient bookings. We will look at the possibility of organising a tour later in the year to coincide with the August Bank Holiday if we receive enough interest.

It is over two years since we were able to run a George Eliot Country Tour and even now we have to curtail some aspects of a normal tour. Arbury Hall itself will not open on the Bank Holiday but the gardens and grounds are, and we hope the Tea Rooms will be open too. But we are allowed to visit South Farm, the birthplace of George Eliot. The tour will also include visits to Chilvers Coton, Astley and Griff, as well as the town centre sites relevant to George Eliot. A commemorative programme will give details of all the places we visit. There will be some walking in Nuneaton and as much as you like in Arbury Park.

We recommend you wear sensible shoes and bring plenty to drink. A picnic or packed lunch could be enjoyed in Arbury Park. Full details of itinerary will be sent when you book. Maximum number is 25.

The George Eliot fellowship AGM will take place on Saturday 11 June at 2pm and will consist of the following items:

1. Welcome and apologies
2. Minutes of the 2021 AGM
3. Chairman's report 2021
4. Treasurer's report 2021
5. Election of trustees
6. Any other business

After the official business has taken place Juliet Hopper will give a round up of her favourite discoveries whilst cataloging the contents of the GEF archive, including an agreement between Robert Evans and his son, Isaac Evans dated 21 July 1829 about the sale of a sheep!

We want to try to make up this year for what we were unable to do last year to celebrate the 150^th anniversary of the publication of Middlemarch in 1871 and 1872.

We have permission from the BBC to show the Andrew Davies 1994 adaptation which was widely praised at the time. Davies did not stick to George Eliot’s time sequence but we are setting up six dates at mostly fortnightly intervals to show the six episodes and to follow each with an hour for discussion. Refreshments will be available. You do not need to have read the novel in advance, nor to have seen the TV adaptation, but the nearly three months from first to sixth episode is leisurely enough for you to read the novel in your own time as well as watch the series with us!

The charge for each session is £6 alternatively you can book all 6 sessions for £30, saving you £6. The session dates are as follows:

Friday 8 April - Episode 1

Friday 22 April - Episode 2

Friday 6 May - Episode 3

Friday 27 May - Episode 4

Friday 10 June - Episode 5

Friday 24 June - Episode 6

Viv has now moved away from the area to Somerset but her enthusiasm for George Eliot remains as strong as ever. She was vice-chair of the Fellowship for many years, adapted four novels and a short story for the stage, as well as abridging Silas Marner for the bicentenary.

Traditionally, about 20 groups are invited to lay a wreath in honour of George Eliot. This will be the first time since 2019 that we can invite members and visitors to participate. At the time of printing we are not sure whether the traditional practice of tea, coffee and cakes at the Museum Tea Room will be possible. We should know in time for the next Newsletter.

The launch of our Festival takes place at Nuneaton Museum & Art Gallery where it will be officially opened by Councillor Jeff Clarke, Mayor of Nuneaton & Bedworth. It will be followed by a presentation of readings from or about George Eliot by members of the Fellowship.

This is a free event, however as space is limited please book your place by calling the Museum on 024 7637 6158 or email museum@nuneatonandbedworth.gov.uk

'Chrissey' by Valerie Fehlbaum

George Eliot was very fond of her older sister and distressed by the ill-fortune that dogged Chrissey throughout her married life. From ailing children to financial worries, despite her husband’s position as a doctor in Meriden, to a premature death at the time that her younger sister was becoming famous and rich.

Valerie was due to present her one woman dramatic presentation about Chrissey in October 2020 but due to travelling restriction bought about by covid the event was cancelled. The Fellowship is delighted that Valerie is  finally able to perform her one woman presentation.

 'Silas' by Geoff Graham

Geoff Graham has a passion for music which led him to create a one-man musical version of Silas Marner, the first performance of which took place at Griff House in April of this year. Geoff's musical will start at 8pm and finish at approximately 9pm

Refreshments will be available during the intermission between the 2 performances.

'Coming to Conclusions in Middlemarch'

'International Communities of Collaboration: the George Eliot Archive'

Dr. Beverley Park Rilett, Associate Professor at Auburn University in Alabama, USA, and Vice-President of the GEF, will provide an overview of a growing trove of more than 5,000 documents, images, and born-digital subprojects collected and/or created by the George Eliot Archive and its sister-sites, the George Eliot Review Online journal collection and the George Eliot Scholars digital commons. These public humanities projects provide resources not only for academic researchers but for everyone curious about George Eliot. Join us as we review and celebrate the projects’ accomplishments over the first five years and plans for the decade ahead.

'Middlemarch: The Rosamond and Lydgate Story'

Gabriel Woolf has been a key part of the success of the Fellowship since 1969 when he did his first one man selection of readings from George Eliot at the invitation of Kathleen Adams, then newly installed as secretary of the Fellowship. This will be the 52nd year that Gabriel has produced his George Eliot readings for us.

In some small measure we were able to say thank you to Gabriel, for many years now accompanied by Rosalind Shanks, for those 50 years of dedicated love for and sharing of George Eliot, by inviting him to speak at the bicentenary event in Westminster Abbey in 2019 and by a special thank you presentation at the 2019 Readings, shown in the picture.

He and Rosalind have taken their readings all over the world, especially to America and we are thrilled that Gabriel and Rosalind are joining us again during our festival.

Middlemarch led by Dr John Rignall

This is the study/reading group which used to meet at Aldersgate but has been unable to since Covid. We are now using the Heritage Centre.

John Rignall is the new President of the GEF and co-editor of the GE Review

View rare items from the George Eliot Collection at the Nuneaton Library

Come along and see the rarer items from the George Eliot Collection at Nuneaton Library, featuring first editions, library scrapbooks and other items.

This is a repeat of the exhibitions held in 2019 and 2020 with new material relating to Middlemarch.

Booking is essential for the limited timed tickets. Booking can be made online via Eventbrite

Time Slots

10:00am - 10:55am

11:00am - 11:55am

12:00pm - 12:55pm

2:00pm - 2:55pm

Ruth Livesey co-wrote 'The Great Middlemarch Mystery' and worked with Josephine Burton, Creative Director of Dash Arts on that adaptation of the novel as an immersive theatre experience staged around Coventry Cathedral close during City of Culture 2021 (https://www.dasharts.org.uk/the-great-middlemarch-mystery)

Ruth will talk about the process of adaptation and share images and insights. Ruth also worked with artist Paul Smith on an exhibition of new works, 'Uncertain Promises: The Unofficial George Eliot Countryside', (copies available on the day) based on the landscapes around Nuneaton (first shown One Paved Court Richmond, Feb
2022 https://onepavedcourt.co.uk/portfolio-item/paul-smith-2-20-feb-2022/ ). She will share images of Smith's new works and her own creative responses to them.

Researcher and writer Rosie White worked alongside curators at Coventry Archives, The Herbert Museum and Nuneaton Museum and Art Gallery to curate a new online exhibition 'Finding Middlemarch' which opens out the history of nineteenth-century Coventry through the lens of the novel and features on the website https://exploringeliot.org . Rosie will share the new exhibition and offer a hands-on chance to explore how it works and give us feedback.

Poet and artist Redell Olsen is writing and directing a new film 'Of that Roar Which Is ...'  In dialogue with Ruth Livesey's research, the film uses Olsen's poetic and filmic language to respond to Eliot's art of attention to life forms that might otherwise go unnoticed. Redell will provide an exclusive preview of stills from the film which will be premiered in autumn 2022.

Finding Middlemarch in Coventry 2021 is supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and hosted at Royal Holloway, University of London.

This is a free event but we ask that you please register so we have an idea of the number of people attending.

This is the annual meal to commemorate the birthday of George Eliot. The first one took place in 1930 and apart from the war years and 2020 it has been held every year since. Weston Hall is a distinguished looking Jacobean building, once home to the local aristocracy. George Eliot’s aunt and her husband are buried in Bulkington and they lived at nearby, but now demolished, Marston Hall. There are some who think Bulkington was a model for Raveloe in Silas Marner.

Our guest of honour this year will be Jonathan Ouvry, who will be accompanied by his wife Marjorie. Jonathan is a direct descendant of George Henry Lewes and from 1984 until this year he was our distinguished President . We are delighted that Jonathan and Marjorie will be able to join us, so that we may thank him in person for his many years of service to the Fellowship.

After you have registered for the event you will receive a confirmation email, with a menu booking form attached. Please fill in your menu selections and email the form to gef1930@gmail.com

If you prefer to pay by bank transfer you can download a copy of the menu booking form here. Please fill in your menu selections and email the form to gef1930@gmail.com

Please note the final date for bookings is 6 November 2022

Lesley Smith is admired for her representations of strong and famous women. She does meticulous research and has wonderful, accurate costumes for women like Elizabeth l, Mary Queen of Scots, Boudicca, Ann Boleyn, Nell Gwynn and Margaret Thatcher.

The George Eliot Fellowship asked her before the bicentenary in 2019 if she would do George Eliot. Lesley started to research Eliot’s life and immersed herself in the novels and letters and the world premiere of her George Eliot, billed as ‘Meet the Woman’ took place in the Abbey Theatre in March 2019 before a capacity audience.

Lesley Smith has agreed to do another performance for us as part of the Middlemarch Festival and we are thrilled to welcome her back. Her George Eliot is now part of Lesley’s repertoire and we are thrilled to welcome her back to the theatre where it was first performed.

Tickets for this event are available online from TicketSource

The George Eliot fellowship AGM will take place on Saturday 25 March at 2pm and will consist of the following items:

1. Welcome and apologies
2. Minutes of the 2022 AGM
3. Chairman's report 2022
4. Treasurer's report 2022
5. Election of trustees
6. Any other business

Programme

Doors open at 9:30am with refreshments available

10:30-11:30 - Clare Carlisle - The Marriage Question: George Eliot's Double Life

11:00-12:00 - Kathy O'Shaughnessy - In Love with George Eliot

12:45-1:45 - Lunch

2:00-3:00 - Natalie Marlow - Needless Alley

2:00-3:00 - Mark Evans - A rehearsed reading

Refreshments will be available at the end of the day.

Times are approximate and subject to change

The tour begins at Chilvers Coton Heritage Centre where pre tour refreshments will be served, before making the short walk to Chilvers Coton churchyard. After which we will board the coach and travel to Arbury Hall for a tour, we will also have lunch before boarding the coach and making the short journey to South Farm, where George Eliot was born. From here we will take the coach to Astley Church before making our way to Griff House, George Eliot's home till she was 21.

Although refreshments will be available in the Stable Tea Rooms at Arbury Hall we suggest you bring a packed lunch. Last year we were able to eat our packed lunch in the grounds of Arbury Hall, fingers crossed we will be able to do the same this year!

This is an enjoyable but full day with lots of walking and standing which might make it unsuitable for guests with limited mobility.

Guest of honour - Andrew Copson

Andrew was born in Nuneaton and is the Chief Executive of Humanists UK and President of Humanists International and has kindly agreed to be our guest of honour and lay a wreath on behalf of the Fellowship.

Traditionally, about 20 groups are invited to lay a wreath in honour of George Eliot. Afterwards we hope to relocate to the Museum Tea Rooms for tea, coffee and cakes.

We have organised a literary tour to Highgate Cemetery in London to visit the grave of George Eliot on Thursday 6th July. Our visit will begin with a tour of the West Cemetery accompanied by a Highgate volunteer lasting approximately 70 minutes.

During the day there will also be the opportunity to learn about other people buried at Highgate with a connection to George Eliot, at the minute we know of at least 10 people!

It is approximately a 10 minute uphill walk to to the centre of Highgate so it is recommended that people bring lunch with them to take full advantage of their time at Highgate.

* For people wishing to make their own way to Highgate there is a reduced ticket price of £15 for members and £20 for non members

Programme

8:00am - Coach leaves Nuneaton Heritage Centre (pick up point 1)

8:50am - Arrive at Newbold Terrace, Leamington Spa (pick up point 2)

11:30am - Arrive at Highgate Cemetery

11:40am - Guided tour of the West Cemetery

4:00pm - Leave Highgate Cemetery

We have allowed for a short comfort break at motorway services before we reach North London however toilets are available at Highgate Cemetery.

Times are approximate and subject to change

We are proud to announce an excursion to Tutbury Castle on Monday 25^th September to include:

Time to look around the castle

2-course light lunch - quiche, salad, dessert, drinks tell us if you have special dietary requirements

Performance by Lesley Smith as Elizabeth 1 followed by questions

Coach fare

Depart Nuneaton Heritage Centre at 10.45am. Leave Tutbury 4.00pm

Tutbury is an imposing medieval site that sits on wooded slopes overlooking the River Dove. It is where Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned by Elizabeth 1 on four occasions. Lesley, an English scholar and historian, has been the Curator of the Castle since 2000 but is perhaps best known for her superb portrayals of extraordinary women from history.

It promises to be an entertaining and exciting day out. Places are restricted and will be on a first come, first served basis.

In 2022, we opened our Middlemarch Festival with a free event - a selection of readings on the life and works of George Eliot, made for us by Vivienne Wood. It was very successful and attracted people new to Eliot’s work.

At this year's AGM, members of the Fellowship Council chose and rehearsed a selection of readings about ‘Relationships and Marriages in George Eliot’. The council have expanded these readings to just under an hour and will perform them at Nuneaton Museum and Art Gallery

This is a free event, however as space is limited please book your place by calling the Museum on 024 7637 6158 or email museum@nuneatonandbedworth.gov.uk

'Marriage and Relationships in Middlemarch'

This is the annual meal to commemorate the birthday of George Eliot. The first one took place in 1930 and apart from the war years and 2020 it has been held every year since. Weston Hall is a distinguished looking Jacobean building, once home to the local aristocracy.

Our guest of honour this year will be Sheila Woolf.  Sheila is a long-standing member of the George Eliot Fellowship, former Head of English at King Henry Vlll school in Coventry. She is a guide and lecturer at Stoneleigh Abbey and author of several books on Stoneleigh and its residents, as well as others on significant local figures and a Young Person’s book on Coventry.

In 2020 Sheila gave a wonderful address at  our Covid-restricted wreath-laying, when her humour and warmth cheered us all. The picture on the right was taken at that event.

If you would prefer to fill out a hard copy of the form you can download a copy here and post it to the address shown at the bottom of the form.

Please note the final date for bookings is 5 November 2023

The theme for this year's study day is 'People who were important in George Eliot's life'.

The heritage centre will open at 9:30am to enable guests to have a drink before the talks begin and there will be a break for lunch after the second speaker.

Jane Robinson - Barbara Bodichon

Jane is a Senior Associate of Somerville College, Oxford who specialises in social history through women's eyes. Jane has written 13 books and her latest book, Trailblazer is a biography of Barbara Bodichon, close friend of George Eliot and co-founder of Girton College.

Joanne Shattock - Margaret Oliphant & John Blackwood

Joanne is Emeritus Professor at the University of Leicester and a longstanding member and supporter of the Fellowship. Joanne has co-edited a major 25 volume edition of Margaret Oliphant and her knowledge of the Long Nineteenth Century makes her an ideal speaker on John Blackwood.

 Break for lunch

 Valerie Fehlbaum - D'Albert Durade

Valerie is an Oxford graduate who lectured at the University of Geneva. Valerie organised a bicentenary conference in Geneva  for the Fellowship in 2018. Her knowledge of Geneva and love of George Eliot will give us a wonderful insight into D'Albert Durade.

 John Burton - The Brays & Hennells

John has been chairman of the Fellowship since 2006. He is hoping to publish later this year an edited selection of the Journal of Alison Evans, great-niece of George Eliot. John's paper will outline some of the influences on Mary Ann Evans from Charles and Cara Bray.

Enjoy a guided tour around the parts of Nuneaton depicted in George Eliot's Janet's Repentance.

The tour will start by the George Eliot Obelisk in the George Eliot Memorial Gardens.  Spaces on the tour are limited to 24 and there will be selected readings and a souvenir printed guide.

This event is now fully booked

The tour starts at Chilvers Coton Heritage Centre which will be open from 10.30am for coffee, registration and an introduction to the day. Full details of times and itinerary will be sent to all who book places. There will be expert guides on the coach and with the party at all times and our guide at Arbury is an expert on the links between the hall and George Eliot.

We are as flexible as we can be, but there are a few fixed points in the day. We visit Chilvers Coton churchyard to see family graves and we then have to be at Arbury Hall for 12.30pm so that our tour is the first of the day. There will be a fixed time to leave Arbury Hall and visit South Farm, where George Eliot was born. You can only see this building on one of our tours. From there we go to Astley church and then to Griff House, where she lived from infancy to adulthood before moving to Coventry in 1841.

Guest of honour - David Paterson

David is a firm friend of the Fellowship and has been a regular speaker at events, where he links his knowledge as a professional historian to his love of George Eliot and produces new insights and new information on the local area and George Eliot’s place in it.

We invite up to 20 or so groups with a George Eliot connection (such as the hospital and several schools), the Mayor and a representative of WCC to lay wreaths in honour of the world-famous writer who grew up here.

Refreshments are then served in the Museum Tea Room. Everyone is invited and there is no charge!

The autumn reading group will discuss Macbeth by the other Warwickshire writer, William Shakespeare.

Enjoy a guided walk around the parts of Nuneaton depicted in George Eliot's Janet's Repentance.

No-one was a bigger influence in George Eliot’s life than G H Lewes, her partner for 24 years. Beverley Rilett offers new considerations on their partnership.

Two giants of Victorian Literature, Elizabeth Gaskell and George Eliot, were very different in almost every way. George Eliot was private and intellectual, while Elizabeth was outgoing, gossipy and deeply shocked by the scandal of her fellow writer’s personal life.

These readings have been prepared and will be presented by the Fellowship council in the Red Gallery at Nuneaton Museum and Art Gallery.

Join us for a captivating experience of Harriet Walter reading George Eliot, David Le Page’s innovative music and SuRie’s amazing vocals in the historic setting of St Mary's Guildhall.

Celebrate 200 years of St Paul's Church on George Eliot's 205th birthday!