Daniel Deronda

English novelist George Eliot, pen name of Mary Anne Evans (1819-80), was one of the leading writers of the Victorian Era, known especially for her realism and psychological insight. Daniel Deronda is a sympathetic portrayal of Judaism and the proto-Zionist idea. The book displays intimate knowledge of the synagogue. Many, if not most of the characters of the book are Jewish: Daniel Deronda, of Sephardic ancestry, raised as an Englishman; Mirah Lapidoth, a beautiful Jewess to whom Daniel is romantically attracted; Mordecai Cohen, Mirah's brother, a proto-Zionist visionary, who transmits his vision to Daniel; Herr Klesmer, a German-Jewish musician; and Contessa Maria Alcharisi, Daniel's mother. By the end of the novel, Daniel, who has rediscovered his Jewish identity, marries Mirah, and the two of them set off for "the East," i.e., the Land of Israel.