Adam Bede
Adam Bede is a historical novel written by the writer under the pseudonym George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) and originally published in 1859. It is the writer's first novel and it is one of the most important works of 19th century English literature.
Adam Bede is a young man, a carpenter by profession, who falls in love with Hetty Sorrel. However this woman is being seduced by Arthur Donnithorne, a wealthy landowner.
Set in the 18th century English countryside, Adam's morals will be put to the test after tragic events that will test his beliefs in a story about love and betrayal.
"With a single drop of ink for a mirror, the Egyptian sorcerer undertakes to reveal to any chance comer far-reaching visions of the past. This is what I undertake to do for you, reader. With this drop of ink at the end of my pen, I will show you the roomy workshop of Mr. Jonathan Burge, carpenter and builder, in the village of Hayslope, as it appeared on the eighteenth of June, in the year of our Lord 1799..."
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Public domain (US)·No sign-up·DRM-free·Real text, not scans
Copyright note. Adam Bede by George Eliot is believed to be in the public domain in the United States only. It may still be copyrighted in other countries. If you are not in the United States, please check your local laws to ensure this eBook is in the public domain in your country before downloading Adam Bede in PDF or EPUB.
- Pages
- 550
- Reading time
- 17 hours 56 minutes
- Pace
- Intermediate
- First published
- 1859
- Language
- English
- Downloads
- 3,947
167 years later, still timely
Why Read Adam Bede in 2026?
Work, desire, and conscience in a vividly rendered village. Eliot’s realism lets ordinary lives bear extraordinary moral weight.
Today's connection
Read for craft detail, rural community, and choices that echo. It invites discussion about justice and compassion without preaching.
Rural craft
Tools, seasons, and skill.
Community ties
Care, talk, and shared duty.
Justice with mercy
Right action that costs.
These collections include Adam Bede
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About the author
George Eliot
Moral psychology in luminous realism; attention as a form of care.
If this one stays with you…
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The House of MirthEdith Wharton
From Adam Bede
Doubtless a great anguish may do the work of years, and we may come out from that baptism of fire with a soul full of new awe and new pity.
Our deeds determine us, as much as we determine our deeds.
If you've got a man's heart and soul in you, you can't be easy a making your own bed an' leaving the rest to lie on the stones.
Perhaps, too, he is angry with us; else why does the blight come, and the bad harvests, and the fever, and all sorts of pain and trouble?
There is one order of beauty which seems made to turn heads. It is a beauty like that of kittens, or very small downy ducks making gentle rippling noises with their soft bills, or babies just beginning to toddle.