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George Eliot
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Adam Bede (Xist Classics) Kindle Edition

by George Eliot (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.2 out of 5 stars 1,064 ratings
A Charming First Novel from the Author of Middlemarch

“It is very hard to say the exact truth, even about your own immediate feelings – much harder than to say something fine about them which is not the exact truth.” ― George Eliot, Adam Bede

Adam Bede was the first novel written by George Eliot. Adam Bede tells the story of four characters who live in a rural community and are seeking love in all the wrong places.

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  1. Print length
    542 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Xist Classics
  4. Publication date
    15 May 2015
  5. File size
    1.7 MB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00XUR3AJS
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Xist Classics
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ 15 May 2015
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1.7 MB
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 542 pages
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1681950037
  • Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Customer reviews:
    4.2 out of 5 stars 1,064 ratings

About the author

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George Eliot

George Eliot

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Mary Ann Evans (22 November 1819 - 22 December 1880; alternatively "Mary Anne" or "Marian"), known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She is the author of seven novels, including Adam Bede (1859), The Mill on the Floss (1860), Silas Marner (1861), Felix Holt, the Radical (1866), Middlemarch (1871-72), and Daniel Deronda (1876), most of them set in provincial England and known for their realism and psychological insight.

She used a male pen name, she said, to ensure her works would be taken seriously. Female authors were published under their own names during Eliot's life, but she wanted to escape the stereotype of women only writing lighthearted romances. She also wished to have her fiction judged separately from her already extensive and widely known work as an editor and critic. An additional factor in her use of a pen name may have been a desire to shield her private life from public scrutiny and to prevent scandals attending her relationship with the married George Henry Lewes, with whom she lived for over 20 years.

Her 1872 work Middlemarch has been described by Martin Amis and Julian Barnes as the greatest novel in the English language.

Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by Swiss artist Alexandre-Louis-François d'Albert-Durade (1804-86) [Public Domain], via English Wikipedia.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
1,064 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find this book to be a great classic with beautiful descriptions of English country life and a wonderful story of love. The book features wonderfully descriptive characters and provides a true picture of people's frailties and emotions. They appreciate its influence, with one customer noting it's a moralistic work of its time. The pace receives mixed reactions from customers.

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30 customers mention ‘Readability’27 positive3 negative

Customers find the book highly readable, describing it as a great classic, with one customer noting it's a real page turner.

"...Lots of twists and turns...simply brilliant, it is no wonder it was an instant success when it was released in 18..something (!!!!)..." Read more

"...I love the fact I am reading books that are from the classical and great authors. This particular book was a true hit for me as I really enjoyed it...." Read more

"...But when the story really gets going it is a masterpiece, it is tense and fast-moving and has the reader on the edge of their seat waiting to find..." Read more

"...fallen women" to some, but I read it literally to just to read it, great book." Read more

14 customers mention ‘Description’12 positive2 negative

Customers appreciate the beautiful descriptions of English country life in the book and find it brilliantly written, with one customer noting its attention to detail.

"...Elliott's books and after reading three others I found this the easiest to read and if I had known would probably have started with this one...." Read more

"...Both novels are set in rural England and both present a large supporting cast of colourful countryfolk who provide vernacular comic relief...." Read more

"...in the country at that time and of Methodism was thoughtful and pleasing complex. Most enjoyable. Celia Craig" Read more

"Lovely storytelling. I like her style of writing very descriptive of the landscape and great use of slang/accents in the dialogue." Read more

14 customers mention ‘Storytelling’14 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the storytelling in this book, particularly appreciating its beautiful portrayal of love, with one customer noting its unexpected delight in experiencing life's realities.

"...Lots of twists and turns...simply brilliant, it is no wonder it was an instant success when it was released in 18..something (!!!!)..." Read more

"...Whilst this novel had moments of brilliance, it was quite hard going at times and I wouldn't recommend it to someone unfamiliar with the classics...." Read more

"...quite as interesting but by half way through I couldn't put it down, love story, family bonds, historical...." Read more

"...it is for the most part rich in its descriptions, absorbing in its plot, and generally strong in its characterisation...." Read more

10 customers mention ‘Character development’10 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the character development in the book, with its wonderfully descriptive characters, and one customer notes the compassionate portrayal.

"this is my 2nd fav book of all time...the characters are beautifully crafted and so special that you end up really caring what happens to them...." Read more

"...The characters and scenery are meticulously drawn and at least 50% of the book is taken up with this...." Read more

"...I enjoyed the tensions between different characters - Adam and the Young Squire - both as personalities and as representatives of their class...." Read more

"It is about 60 years since I last read Adam Bede and the characters are as vivid as ever...." Read more

6 customers mention ‘Realism’6 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the realism of the book, with one review noting how it captures people's frailties and emotions, while another describes it as a story of rural tragedy.

"...and misogynistic in many aspects by today's standards and appetite for realism...." Read more

"...A heart-warming local preacher (itself unusual for her sex at that time) if a little too full of Biblical quotations...." Read more

"...Emotions fly throughout the book. Characters are carefully drawn and have a real feel to them! An excellent read!" Read more

"...More akin to The Mill on the Floss, it tells a story of rural tragedy which might have influenced Hardy, particularly in Tess...." Read more

4 customers mention ‘Influence’4 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the influence of the book, with one noting its thoughtful Methodist approach and another highlighting its genuine interest in all humanity.

"...1859..there ya go!! A book that will stay with you and inspire you Top class" Read more

"...Both are moralistic works of their time, though Hardy's characteristic pessimism about the human lot runs counter to the early George Eliot's..." Read more

"...The portrayal of life in the country at that time and of Methodism was thoughtful and pleasing complex. Most enjoyable. Celia Craig" Read more

"...moral stance is there although this is reinforced by a genuine interest in all humanity. Some wonderful nuggets of humour and attention to detail." Read more

6 customers mention ‘Pace’3 positive3 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the pace of the book, with one finding it fast-moving while another notes it takes an age to get going.

"...(although this is rated more highly ) which actually makes it a quicker and easier read...." Read more

"A slow start but well worth persistence. Some of the descriptive passages got tedious...." Read more

"...the story really gets going it is a masterpiece, it is tense and fast-moving and has the reader on the edge of their seat waiting to find out Hetty..." Read more

"Not the best novel by George Elliot, it is very slow moving and certainly could do with a bit more pace" Read more

Top reviews from United Kingdom

  • mrs_t
    5.0 out of 5 stars touching book that will stay with you a while after you read it
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 June 2008
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    this is my 2nd fav book of all time...the characters are beautifully crafted and so special that you end up really caring what happens to them. Lots of twists and turns...simply brilliant, it is no wonder it was an instant success when it was released in 18..something (!!!!) i really should research that but the book is at the other end of the room and i'm v v lazy!! 1859..there ya go!! A book that will stay with you and inspire you Top class
    One person found this helpful
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  • Denise Howard
    4.0 out of 5 stars Don't Judge A Book By It's Cover (Literally)
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 29 January 2020
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    I had chosen a couple of these kindle free books from Amazon and realised it was a pretty hit-or-miss affair, but there again no real complaint as these books are free and I love the fact I am reading books that are from the classical and great authors. This particular book was a true hit for me as I really enjoyed it. The only difficulty for me was the obvious period of time writing at times, but by the time I had come to the end of the story, I was so invested into the characters and wanting to know what happened to them. Some of the story was deeply sad and gave a glimpse or the social attitudes of the time, which made the George Elliot (pen name) Mary Ann Evans so fascinating. This was her first novel.
    I have it as a kindle book but I do look forward to re-visit this book in the future and I also am encouraged to read more by this author
    One person found this helpful
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  • pathfinder
    5.0 out of 5 stars Loved this book
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 February 2019
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    I have been working my way through George Elliott's books and after reading three others I found this the easiest to read and if I had known would probably have started with this one. The story and characterization is not on such a deep level as Middlemarch (although this is rated more highly ) which actually makes it a quicker and easier read. So if you are just dipping your toe into George Elliott this may be a good one to start with. I have also read Mill on the Floss which I loved and Silas Mather which if you can get through the first third is a good read too but quite a short book.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • iandliz
    3.0 out of 5 stars Adam Bede by George Eliot
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 January 2012
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    This is George Eliot's first novel and the first of her works that I have read. It is the story of strapping young carpenter, Adam Bede, who falls in love with the beautiful, but fickle, Hetty. Hetty meanwhile is in the throes of a love affair with the young heir to the manor, Arthur. Knowing that farm girl Hetty is an unsuitable match for gentleman Arthur, Hetty agrees to marry Adam, much to Adam's delight. But Hetty does not love Adam and has some difficulties of her own to overcome and so runs away, getting into trouble that will ultimately destroy her.

    This book is a bit of a chunkster and takes an age to get going. The characters and scenery are meticulously drawn and at least 50% of the book is taken up with this. But when the story really gets going it is a masterpiece, it is tense and fast-moving and has the reader on the edge of their seat waiting to find out Hetty's fate. But then the novel fizzles away again. Hetty disappears off the radar completely and Adam instead falls for his brother's love, the rather dull preacher-woman, Dinah, which is rather a disappointing end and one can't help but feel sorry for Adam's brother, Seth, who surely can't be ok with this outcome.

    Whilst this novel had moments of brilliance, it was quite hard going at times and I wouldn't recommend it to someone unfamiliar with the classics. I found it interesting as Eliot's first novel and can see how she would have gone on to much greater things with her subsequent work and it has whetted my appetite to read Mill on the Floss or Middlemarch and experience her best works.
    7 people found this helpful
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  • Janie
    5.0 out of 5 stars Love Adam
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 June 2016
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    Love Adam, top man, Seth, possibly even more of a man ( when all was said and done) the Mothers in this book are pretty amusing I think. If you like Charles Dickens, no reason why you wouldn't like this book, I suppose characters not quite as interesting but by half way through I couldn't put it down, love story, family bonds, historical. I know it's a study of "fallen women" to some, but I read it literally to just to read it, great book.
    One person found this helpful
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  • neutraltones
    4.0 out of 5 stars A neglected classic?
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 September 2013
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    SPOILER ALERT!

    Having been a George Eliot fan for many years ('Middlemarch' is my favourite novel of all time) I have been far too long getting round to reading 'Adam Bede'. I'm not sure whether this is a neglected classic or simply neglected by me, though I have noticed there seem to be few TV or film adaptations, perhaps an indication of the book's relative obscurity.

    It certainly deserves to be better known and more often read. Though not without faults (it was, after all, Ms Eliot's first novel) it is for the most part rich in its descriptions, absorbing in its plot, and generally strong in its characterisation. It is a slight pity that the 'saints' (Adam Bede and Dinah Morris) are not so imaginatively drawn as the 'sinners' (Arthur Donnithorne and especially Hetty Sorrel) and therefore interest us less, but the same could be said of many undisputed classics - Tess of the D'Urbevilles, for example, featuring the insipid Angel Clare.

    In fact there are a number of strong parallels between this novel and 'Tess' which make me wonder if Hardy used George Eliot's work as a model for his own. Hetty, like Tess, is a pretty girl of the country labouring classes, seduced and left pregnant by a member of the local gentry. Both babies die in infancy. Both women are arrested, tried and committed to hang, though in Hetty's case there is a rather contrived 'deus ex machina' reprieve brought by her repentant seducer. Both novels are set in rural England and both present a large supporting cast of colourful countryfolk who provide vernacular comic relief. Both are moralistic works of their time, though Hardy's characteristic pessimism about the human lot runs counter to the early George Eliot's optimistic, overtly Christian outlook.

    I am not claiming for 'Adam Bede' superior provenance over 'Tess of the D'Urbevilles', much less as high a place in the unofficial league table of English literature, but I would hope readers will be stimulated by this review among others favourable to the novel and not wait as long as I did to read it.
    7 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Etienne d'Hautacam
    5.0 out of 5 stars Seth aime Dinah qui aime Adam qui aime Hetty qui aime Arthur qui n'aime que lui-même
    Reviewed in France on 22 May 2020
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    Ce premier roman de George Eliot (1819-1880), écrit à quarante ans par la grande romancière victorienne, n'est guère lu en France alors qu'il s'agit d'un classique appelé à plaire à un large public.
    L'action se place pendant les guerres napoléoniennes, dans un bourg rural du Nord de l'Angleterre. A Hayslope, vit chez les Poyser, rudes mais décents fermiers, leur nièce orpheline Hetty, pâte molle et sensuelle qui, à la Emma Bovary, rêve de passions folles et de mariage dans la haute société. Bien qu'elle sache rendre fou de désir le sérieux Adam Bede, ébéniste modeste mais de grande vertu, elle tombe amoureuse de Arthur Donnithorne, le séduisant nobliau local. Celui-ci lutte contre la tentation mais cède à la peccadille. Les conséquences seront lourdes.
    Comme souvent les grands romans victoriens, Adam Bede est un ouvrage massif et un chef d'aeuvre de subtilité et de détails, qui doit se lire patiemment. La petite communauté rurale de Hayslope, ses fermiers, ses artisans, ses élites (le prêtre Irwine, théologien médiocre mais ami fidèle, l'instituteur misogyne et progressiste Bartle Massey, les aristocrates) est admirablement dépeinte et les personnages au deuxième plan sont d'une richesse prodigieuse (notamment les deux figures maternelles de Mme Bede et de Mme Poyser). Les protagonistes étant bien campés, la dernière partie du roman voit le drame se nouer à un rythme allègre - qui contraste avec la patiente mise en place qui a précédé.
    L'originalité du roman tient cependant à l'art et la sensibilité propres à Eliot. Présence permanente d'un narrateur omniscient qui prend le lecteur par la main et juge en moralité les personnages, souci du détail dans les descriptions des habitations et des paysages, des activités et des sentiments, subtilité des relations entre personnages (Arthur et Adam, Irwine et Dinah), phrases longues et riches (un bon niveau en anglais est requis pour le lire en version originale) et art inouï de la composition caractérisent les aeuvres d'Eliot. On retrouve aussi ses dilemmes religieux avec l'étonnant personnage de Dinah Morris, prédicatrice méthodiste et ange de bonté, au charme de laquelle succombent même l'anglican Irwine et la pourtant dépourvue de vie intérieure Hetty. Apparition presque fantastique que cette Dinah, seul personnage dont Eliot n'analyse pas les motivations et hésitations, comme si elle ne ressortissait pas au genre humain.
    Il faut évidemment un grand talent et même un soupçon de génie pour traiter un sujet aussi rebattu (la fille séduite et abandonnée), le faire totalement sien en l'incorporant dans un cadre qui n'est que particularismes (et on ne peut plus anglais, jusqu'à l'amour des chiens...) et produire une aeuvre aussi universelle.
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  • June
    5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring
    Reviewed in Australia on 28 June 2017
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    Extremely descriptive scenes that immerses the reader fully. Great reading, even in the modern age for feelings are timeless. An exploration of social opinion.
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  • Stephanie Zee Fehler
    5.0 out of 5 stars beautifully told. Her grasp of the language
    Reviewed in Canada on 14 May 2018
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    Timeless story, beautifully told. Her grasp of the language, her sensitivity and nuance, and understanding of all those troubled streams that flow into what make us human, and what makes us look for transcendence, shines through this brilliantly constructed novel.
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  • Kurt
    5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent work of art
    Reviewed in the United States on 10 July 2012
    Verified Purchase
    ***Heavy spoiler review. Only read if you have already read the novel!***

    *****************************************************************************

    What about Seth?!! was all I could think as I neared the end of the George Eliot novel, Adam Bede. Being a second son, and certainly not as good looking as my older brother, and a couple inches shorter no less, how could I not sympathize with Seth Bede, the younger brother who, by the amazing machinations of a brilliant writer, Mary Ann Evans, manages to let his feelings for a woman he admires dwindle away to irrelevance while simultaneously supporting his elder brother's burgeoning affection for that very same woman?

    As crazy as it may sound, I am now going to try to explain why Mary Ann Evans was such a great writer, and why her subtle genius points the way to the very reality of nature itself, though it is to many an uncomfortable reality, and to some others still, a hostile, and even malevolent one. I will admit, I was rooting for Seth all the way through the novel. He was enamoured of Dinah Morris, but was keenly aware that she did not return the feeling, and yet still hopeful that in time she might come to love him and think of him in a romantic sense. How many men (and women) have lived in that kind of melancholy hopefulness? I know I have, and many times. It's not easy. In fact, it's an extremely harrowing and painful experience, and I do not recommend it to anyone. But that's the way things are. Nature, despite man's civilization and refinement, is as it always was. There are certain things that are immutable, unalterable, and constant, no matter how clever or sympathetic our race manages to become.

    Evans was not a physically attractive woman herself, at least not in the common sense of the term. I am sure she was keenly aware of this, and I'm also sure that she was governed in her art by a kind of Spinozan submission and reverence to the natural order of things, and, far from letting that diminish or spoil her intelligent zest for life, she gave it exquisite expression in some of the most venerated and popular novels of all time. Adam Bede, her first novel, is a crystal clear example of such literary expression. Before I go on, I do not mean to suggest that physical appearance and personal charm are the sole criteria upon which we humans base our judgments and affections toward others; that would be narrow-minded and silly; but, whether we like it or not, such attributes do in fact exert a strong force and influence when it comes to sexual attraction. It may not be fair, but that's the way it is.

    For all intents and purposes, Adam Bede is the classic alpha male, though Evans gives him a serene and genuinely sensitive side that would be entirely missing from a protagonist in a novel by Ayn Rand, another candidly plain looking woman who took Evans's honest and often sacrilegious reconciliation with nature to what many would say was an irrational extreme; but no more of that. Evans is such a good author that every reader would know that if Seth had claimed to still be holding a candle for Dinah, Adam would not have pursued her. As it happens, Seth comes to feel quite literally happy about the fact that his older brother has stolen the heart that was once the object of his affection. He is happy to be brother to Dinah and uncle to Adam's children. Many have suggested that this was sort of an authorial cheat, or foul play on the part of Evans, that in real circumstances the younger brother would most certainly be deeply hurt by the doubly-painful knowledge that not only did his beloved not find in him a man that she could love as a husband, but in fact had fallen in love with his older brother instead! Wouldn't any man be hurt by such a turn of events. I know I would.

    But that's the difference between life and art. Art, in the hands of a genuinely good artist, is a means of not only understanding, appreciating, and celebrating the rich pageant of life, but also of coming to terms with painful truths and realities which a lot of us would rather not confront; and which cause certain well-intended but misgiven people to wreak nothing but havoc by the often absurd pseudo-intellectual deconstruction or denial of long confirmed fact and simple common sense.

    My heart will always root for Seth, but my intellect allows me to see that Adam was the obvious object to which Dinah would fix her affection. We second-born, homelier, shorter little brothers will generally just have to deal with it, get over it, and move on.

    But, wait a minute. Or, as Monty Python would say, "and now for something completely different! -

    The Hetty Sorrel and Arthur Donnithorne characters, who I haven't even mentioned, are a whole 'nuther dimension in this wonderful novel, and serve to remind us, though this may sound contrary to what I've already said, that all that glitters is not gold. Which is to say, at least with respect to Hetty, physical beauty, or material perfection, does not always adorn a beautiful soul, and that the reptilian part of the brain must always be moderated by sound reason and rationality.

    And that's that, and it is what it is.

    And A is A ('cos God says so).
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  • Donna Hill
    4.0 out of 5 stars A Classic Through and Through
    Reviewed in the United States on 16 August 2012
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    My high school English teacher, a nun, assigned this book in my junior year. I think I considered it a great accomplishment to make it through the entire book and the fact that I actually enjoyed the experience was a bonus. At seventeen, I didn't have the experience in life to really appreciate this book fully. So at 65, I decided to re-read it. First, I was amazed that I actually read this without complaining at seventeen because it can be very tedious reading at times. I have been spoiled over the years with the short concise sentences which are the order of the day in the 21st century. If one considers the long sentences, the difficult dialect, and the complicated thoughts, Eliot often rivals our modern-day government with her over-blown verbiage. I would come to the end of a sentence and want to say, "Come again?"

    However, Adam Bede is an unusual and beautiful story with well-drawn characters and a realistic picture of 19th-century rural English life. To give you an idea of the personalities of the two main female characters, I'll take you to the more well-known story Gone With the Wind. Who can forget vain Scarlett and saintly Melanie? Well, Eliot's Hetty would be compatible with Scarlett and Eliot's Dinah would make an excellent friend for Melanie.

    I loved Eliot's admiration for the simple folks--the hardworking country folks. I liked the way she philosophized about art and how the homely pictures with the simple household objects and the homely wrinkled people shouldn't be scorned.

    This story is very heavy on characterization and description for more than half of the book and then during the second half we learn about the true reason for the book--the events which lead to tragedies and change the lives of some of the characters irrevocably. Then your heart will start to beat faster and you won't be able to put the book down. But actually even before then I started looking forward to getting back to the book each evening, and I think it was because I was falling in love with some of the characters. Eliot is superb at drawing her characters and breathing life into them.

    I was satisfied with the conclusion and very moved with many of the scenes. Some of the characters simply shine with the goodness, love, and forgiveness they display. They could put us all to shame! And then again some of the characters are very human and their complaining natures are always very evident. There is a good mix here. You won't conclude that all of these people are just too good but you won't be overwhelmed by evil because even when evil rears its ugly head, Eliot shows us in her compassionate way that evil is sometimes the result of a human being in desperate circumstances. Great story!
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