Middlemarch has never held much interest for me, but this time I am loving it, reading it as a Victorian soap opera. His view of the world and the people he had stereotyped slowly changes.

It is also about Daniel’s exploration of Judaism after he discovers that he is Jewish. It is also about attractive Daniel Deronda’s habit of saving women – first Gwendolyn, who confides in him when she is in trouble, and then Miriam, a Jewish singer whom he saves from suicide. Daniel Deronda is my favorite book by Eliot – an elaborate novel partly about the consequences of a pretty, vain young woman’s marriage to a sadist – poor Gwendolyn marries him because he is rich and her family has lost all their money. I am almost done with Middlemarch, and loving it. But even temps in the 80s make me feel it is fall.Īnyway, I have embarked on my fall reading program. Some believe fall starts after Labor Day, others that it begins September 22, the official date of the change of season. The light looks like autumn: slanting, softer. When you’ve endured extreme weather – like biking for two hours when it’s 90 degrees, and then being chased on a trail by a horrible boys’ cross-country team who used my bike to pace them – yes, this really happened – you’re ready to spend the day in a comfortable, cool house.

I was wearing pajama shorts, a CAT MOM t-shirt, and tennies as I sat in front of the fan, ready to leap up and turn on the air conditioner if the temp hit 90.

Winter wheat book by mildred walker