20 h 45 minAudiobook13 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What good is a vote if winning it means turning your back on your conscience?
In George Eliot’s Felix Holt, the Radical, reform reaches the Midlands town of Treby Magna. It is 1832, and the first Reform Act is changing who may vote. Felix, a young watchmaker with a stubborn conscience, wants to educate his neighbours rather than flatter them. Wealthy Harold Transome returns home to stand for Parliament as a Radical.
At Transome Court, Harold’s proud mother struggles to hold on to the estate she has long managed. An uneasy past shadows the household. Between that world and Felix’s stands Esther Lyon, a minister’s daughter drawn to rank and comfort. As the election sharpens local tensions, her choices bring love, duty and the worth of a life into question.
What you’ll discover
- A radical with principles Meet Felix, who rejects dishonest profit and asks what lasting change demands of ordinary people.
- Love that challenges comfort Follow Felix and Esther as their quarrels test what each believes makes a worthy life.
- An estate under strain Enter Transome Court, where pride, family expectations and an unsettled past weigh on the present.
- Politics close to home Watch a village election draw questions of land, law and conscience into everyday lives.
- A humane questioning voice Spend time with Eliot’s reflective narrator, who invites you to think alongside the story.
Who will love it
For readers who love Victorian novels that mix a love story with politics, and anyone drawn to ordinary people living through the push for reform, questions of conscience, and family secrets.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Treby Magna Stands at a Turning Point
- Mrs Transome Waits for Her Son
- Harold Transome Comes Home a Radical
- Felix Holt Refuses the Easy Road
- Esther Lyon Lives Between Two Worlds
- Felix and Esther Quarrel and Come Closer
- The Election Tightens Every Knot
- What the Novel Says About Reform and Conscience
- How Eliot Tells the Story
Who’s who
- Felix HoltA young watchmaker and self-taught radical who refuses wealth and wants to educate working men before they gain political power.
- Esther LyonThe minister's clever, vain daughter, who longs for refinement and must learn what she truly values.
- Rufus LyonThe gentle, learned Dissenting minister of Treby, devoted to his faith and to his daughter Esther.
- Harold TransomeA wealthy, practical man returned from abroad who stands for Parliament as a Radical and wants to put the family estate in order.
- Mrs TransomeHarold's proud, lonely mother, who has long run Transome Court and lives in fear of an old secret.
- Matthew JermynThe family lawyer and steward, shrewd and self-serving, who has handled the Transome affairs for years.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 20 h 45 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 13 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear Félix Holt, el radical in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Félix Holt, el radical
by George Eliot · 1866
As an election divides Treby Magna, Esther Lyon must decide what kind of life is worth having.
ChallengingOver 20 hours to read25 languages
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
In short
Felix Holt, the Radical is a novel by George Eliot, published in 1866. It is set in 1832, in a fictional Midlands county, in the months when the first Reform Act is changing who may vote in England.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Treby Magna Stands at a Turning Point
The novel opens with a long look at the English Midlands as they were before the railways changed everything. Eliot describes the old coach roads, the farms, the weavers and the miners, and the small market town of Treby Magna. She wants you to see that England was a patchwork of separate worlds, and that the coming reform would reach each of them differently.
In 1832 the first Reform Act has just widened the vote. Not every man has gained it, and the working men of Treby mostly have not. Even so, the talk in the inns and shops is full of change. Some people fear it, some hope for it, and many simply hope to profit by it.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Félix Holt, el radical
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is Felix Holt, the Radical about?
It is set in a Midlands town in 1832, during the first Reform Act. It follows a principled workingman, Felix Holt, a minister's daughter, and a family estate with a hidden past, all tangled up with an election.
Is Felix Holt a true story?
No. The characters and the town of Treby Magna are invented. George Eliot published the novel in 1866 and set it in the real political climate of the early 1830s, when reform of the vote was being fought over.
What does Radical mean in Felix Holt?
In the novel, a Radical wants major political and social change. Felix wants working men educated before they hold power, while Harold Transome uses radical talk to win a seat. Eliot shows the word can cover very different aims.
The author
George Eliot
1819–1880 · English novelist
George Eliot was the pen name of Mary Ann Evans, an English novelist, essayist, poet and journalist. She was born in Warwickshire in 1819 and later lived in London, where she died in 1880. Her novels include Adam Bede (1859), The Mill on the Floss (1860) and Middlemarch (1871–1872).
More by George Eliot
All 8 booksMore like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
