Romola

In the late 15th century, a shipwrecked Greek named Tito Melema arrives in a Florence unsettled by the death of Lorenzo de’ Medici. He swiftly wins friends and favor with his quick wits, lightly worn learning, and good looks. He comes to the attention of the blind old scholar, Bardo de’ Bardi, and becomes his assistant. This throws Melema together with Bardo’s beautiful young daughter, Romola. Almost inevitably, the two seemingly sympathetic young people fall in love.

This is a time when religion and politics are barely distinguishable in Florentine life: while the fiery preaching of Savonarola deepens rifts, a young Machiavelli is active in civic affairs. This combustible backdrop is dangerous for Melema, for he has a hidden past, as well as a treacherous present; and it transpires that Romola’s family has been riven by religious differences.

George Eliot was inspired to write Romola during an extended visit to Florence with her “husband,” George Lewes, in 1860. Eliot immersed herself in the city as she began to imagine a different kind of historical novel from the popular potboilers of her day. The result was this deeply researched and heavily detailed work. Its critical admirers rank it among Eliot’s most important novels, though it never saw much popular success. It’s possible to see in the dynamics of Romola the seeds of ideas and themes which would work out so differently for Dorothea in Middlemarch.