Adam Bede, the first novel written by George Eliot (the pen name of Mary Ann Evans), was published in 1859. It was published pseudonymously, even though Evans was a well-published and highly respected scholar of her time. The novel has remained in print ever since and is used in university studies of 19th-century English literature.
The story's plot follows four characters' rural lives in the fictional community of Hayslope-a rural, pastoral and close-knit community in 1799. The novel revolves around a love "rectangle" among beautiful but self-absorbed Hetty Sorrel; Captain Arthur Donnithorne, the young squire who seduces her; Adam Bede, her unacknowledged suitor; and Dinah Morris, Hetty's cousin, a fervent, virtuous and beautiful Methodist lay preacher.
[COMPLETE] Seeking inspiration for her next historical romance novel, Tilly Fletcher visits a mysterious 19th century Tasmanian cottage, abandoned suddenly over a century ago by a sad and lonely recluse.
As Tilly steps through the still and silent house, untouched and fully furnished after all these years, the impossible happens to her. Dazed and confused, she struggles to comprehend that she is no longer in 2019, but suddenly standing inside the cottage in 1869 - and is caught by the aforementioned recluse, Nicholas Clay.
While Tilly faces the obstacles preventing her from going back home, she also has to adjust to the sudden change of living in the 19th century. But it's not long before Tilly starts to enjoy the new life she's started for herself, and has doubts about returning to the life she's known for twenty-eight years - especially if it means leaving behind the man she is unexpectedly falling for.