Book 14: Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe, by George Eliot

 

Finished May 3, 2022

Anytime anyone says, "That's my favorite book," I immediately read it. This book, published in 1861, is the author's favorite of the books she published. Mary Ann Evans, using the pen name George Eliot, write some of the finest fiction in the English language. This book was her favorite of the books she wrote. So I knew I had to read it. 

This delightful tale examines a man's journey away from God and people, and back again. The titular character is accused of a crime he doesn't commit. When he realizes his best friend committed the crime, he is disillusioned about relationships, and crushed that God does not reveal his innocence. So he moves to Raveloe, a small town in need of a weaver such as himself, to start again. 

In Raveloe, he is bristly, keeping mostly to himself and stowing away his money for the future. Money, he discovers, is reliable. It is something he can literally count on, unlike people. So he makes no close friends beyond acquaintances needed to make a living. Until his nest egg is stolen from him. The same crime he was accused of is now committed against him. Evans reveals who stole Marner's money, so the reader is in on the misunderstanding and the details of the crime. 

A little abandoned girl then finds Marner, and he raises her. He has exchanged his gold for her little golden locks, and as she grown, Marner's heart warms toward her. A kindly neighbor helps him, encouraging him to bring her to church and observe the feast day traditions for her sake, which he does. Slowly, he begins to be regarded with more compassion by the townsfolk, and he himself begins to approach people with more interest and compassion. Finally, he reconciles with God, after a fashion.

Nothing in Mary Ann Evans' biography makes me think she was a Christian, and this impression is reinforced by the way she describes Marner's return to God. However, we get the point, and I'm touched that she made it part of the story (she also was estranged from her childhood faith ... perhaps she wanted to go back, too). 

This is a touching and authentic story which was entirely delightful. I will soon read Middlemarch, said by many to be even better.