'Middlemarch Is All About How It Gets to Be Too Late for Things'

Highlights from 1book140's Twitter conversation with My Life in Middlemarch author Rebecca Mead on Wednesday night

On Wednesday evening, The Atlantic's Twitter book club, 1book140, held a live Twitter Q&A session with Rebecca Mead, the New Yorker staff writer who published a multi-layered homage to George Eliot, My Life in Middlemarch, earlier this year. Mead talked about what first drew her to Middlemarch, Eliot’s “god-like” emotional sympathy, and how the book addresses—but ultimately sees redemptive value in—human disappointment.

The full version of our conversation covered a broader range of topics, including Mead’s take on the real-life roots of Middlemarch, a discussion on favorite characters, and what it means to read Victorian novels in the digital age. Below are a few memorable exchanges from 1book140's conversation with Mead.

Read the full version of Rebecca Mead’s conversation with 1book140 in our archive on Storify.