George Eliot (1819-1880), born Mary Ann Evans, was an English writer best known for her poetry and novels. She grew up in a conservative environment where she received a Christian education. An avid reader, Eliot expanded her horizons on religion, science and free thinkers. Her earliest writings included an anonymous English translation of The Life of Jesus in 1846 before embracing a career as a fiction writer. Some of her most notable works include Adam Bede (1859), The Mill on the Floss(1860) and Silas Marner.

An idealistic, working class man encourages social and political change in a small English town. Felix Holt, The Radical, by George Eliot, is set against the Reform Act of 1832, which influences the novel's main storyline. It centers on a local election that is tainted by growing corruption and violence.