It’s important that contemporary readers remember how Middlemarch was originally published. It did not come out in one single book, but instead in 8 different parts. One part for each of the ‘books’ that divides up the entirety of the work. From December 1871 to December 1872, the publisher Blackwoods published Eliot’s impressive novel. The basis of Middlemarch stems from two separate stories: one that follows a doctor who is bent on reforming the medical practices of England at the time and the other that follows a young woman who is intent on scholarship and achieving her dreams of developing her mind. Eliot took around 5 years to complete the whole novel. The recent publication of the journals she kept while writing her masterpiece has shown the public the lengths she went to study and research important topics that appeared in her book.

Uglow, Nathan. "Middlemarch". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 April 2002 https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=3605.