THE MILL ON THE FLOSS

In her day, George Eliot was generally considered England’s greatest novelist. Later, in this country, her SILAS MARNER, as required classroom reading, numbed thousands of schoolkids to the joys of literature. If only actress Jill Tanner had been around! THE MILL ON THE FLOSS has no greater relevance to modern Americans, but you’d never guess it from Tanner’s reading. Here we get a lengthy, discursive account of the love between siblings Tom and Maggie, scions of a country miller in the mid-1800s, surrounding the story of how they dealt with many trials while growing into young adults, how they became estranged, and how they reconciled seconds before their tragic deaths. Tanner vividly animates the characters, making them seem familiar and worthy of our concern. She also makes apparent the charm, humor, grace, compassion, and subtlety in Eliot’s work, which so often elude today’s readers. Through Tanner, the virtues that captivated Eliot’s contemporaries and still keep her books in print come into sharp focus. Y.R. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 04]