Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life is a novel written by English novelist George Eliot under the pen name Mary Ann Evans. George Eliot published it in eight installments (volumes) between 1871 and 1872. Middlemarch, a fictional English Midlands town, served as the setting from 1829 to 1832, telling several unique, intertwining stories with numerous characters. The issues include women's rights, the nature of marriage, idealism, self-interest, religion, hypocrisy, political reform, and education. Middlemarch, despite its humorous features, uses realism to depict historical events such as the 1832 Reform Act, early railways, and King William IV's ascension. It examines historical medicine and reactionary ideas in a stable community confronting unpleasant change. Eliot began writing the two halves of the work in 1869-1870 and finished it in 1871. Despite mixed initial reviews, Eliot now universally regarded it as her best work and one of the great English novels. Mary Anne, or Marian, better known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the most prominent writers of the Victorian era.