The Hibernation Book Club: Long Reads for Short Days

VIRTUAL AND IN-PERSON MEETING

If you are someone who has always wanted to read some great big books but have been daunted by their length, we are starting a new book club just for you. In the Hibernation Book club, we will take on one long classic novel every winter, dividing it up into shorter sections and meeting six times over the course of three months to work our through it. Our title for the winter of 2023 is Middlemarch by George Eliot.

Set in the fictional English town of Middlemarch in the years of social unrest that led to the First Reform Bill of 1832, Middlemarch is a study of nearly every class of society, from the landed gentry and clergy to manufacturers and professional men, farmers and laborers. The novel focuses particularly on the thwarted idealism of its two principal characters, Dorothea Brooke and Tertius Lydgate. Originally published in eight parts in 1871-1872, Middlemarch is widely considered to be Eliot's masterpiece and one of the finest novels ever written in English. In this six-part program, we will read the novel in installments of approximately 150 pages each and meet every other week to talk about the novel.

Moderated by Readers Advisory Librarian Cindy Haiken. To participate and for details about meeting virtually or in-person, contact Cindy at chaiken@wallingfordlibrary.org.