I started reading this book in tandem with Middlemarch, but I had to slow it down because the book does describe plot development in Eliot's novel and I wanted to avoid spoilers. I truly enjoyed the book for its biographical history of Eliot's life before, during, and after the publication of Middlemarch. I'm still intrigued by Eliot's life, as many others have been. Apparently there are something like 38 biographies about her life!