George Eliot was born Mary Ann Evans in England on November 22, 1819. Her mother died when she was 16, and, apart from her time away from home in various boarding schools, she lived with her father as his housekeeper and caregiver until 1849, when he died. Her early schooling instilled in her a strong sense of Christian piety, and she was known to have dressed in rather severe, austere clothing. But exposure to free-thinking intellectuals eventually led Eliot away from her strict Christian faith, which resulted in a major conflict with her father in 1842. She eventually compromised by promising him that she would continue to attend Church in order to maintain a respectable appearance, although she would not be compelled to actually believe in the teachings of the church.

In 1851, Eliot moved to London to live as a freelance writer. There, she was further exposed to some of the...