George Eliot was the pen name of English female novelist Mary Ann Evans (November 22, 1819 - December 22, 1880). Born on a farm near Nuneaton in Warwickshire, she used many of her real-life experiences in her books, which she wrote under a man's name in order to improve her chances of publication.
She defied convention by living for many years with George Henry Lewes, a writer, who died in 1878. On May 6, 1880 she married a friend, John Cross, an American banker, who was 20 years younger than her. They honeymooned in Venice and, allegedly, Cross jumped from their hotel balcony into the Grand Canal on their wedding night. She died in London of a kidney ailment and was interred in Highgate Cemetery (East), Highgate, London, England.
Her works include:
She also wrote a considerable amount of fine poetry.
(Collected Poems - ISBN 1871438403)