To continue just a bit more about Will Ladislaw in
Middlemarch by George Eliot. No one was more surprised than I
when I discovered who I had chosen as an image of Will Ladislaw . . .
I had gone to the “free image” sorts of websites looking for
an artistic man with blond curls—-and ran across this photo:
and you know who it really was? It was George Henry Lewes—the
“partner” of George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) in real life! (I’m sorry
there seem to be so many people named George in this whole
business. George Eliot wasn’t even a George at all) . . . anyway, maybe
she was describing Will Ladislaw all along, subconsciously, as
her dear friend. What a coincidence.
In the meantime, quite a dramatic event took place in my book
last night . . .won’t spoil it for you in case you’re not quite up to
page 482 yet.