meeting Maggie

In keeping with my plan to read more of the classics, I recently finished reading The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot.

It tells the story of Maggie Tulliver, an intelligent and passionate young girl who always seems to get herself into trouble. Despite her best attempts to try and win her family's approval, it is only her father who sees how hard she tries even if she is unsuccessful most of the time to please her family. Aside from her father, she hero worships her older brother Tom with whom she has a close relationship in their younger years.

Everything changes when Maggie's father loses a lawsuit and consequently goes bankrupt and also loses the mill. He eventually passes away but not before making Tom promise to get back the mill and avenge the family. Unfortunately, Maggie's relationship with straitlaced Tom suffers when she later becomes involved with two unsuitable men. One is the son of the lawyer who was the force behind the Tulliver's bankruptcy while the other is, more or less, is engaged to her dear cousin Lucy.

Maggie frequently wallows in guilt, torn as she is between her search for happiness and love and her desire to live up to what is expected of her.

I found the first few chapters a little tedious but the pace eventually picked up and I was able to get into it. It was a beautiful story even if  I did feel sad for Maggie most of the time. And the ending made me reach for a box of tissues.

Mood Music: Grey Street by Dave Matthews Band