The Lifted Veil

First published in Blackwoods Magazine in 1859 <strong>The Lifted Veil</strong> is now oneof George Eliots most widely read and critically discussed short stori... » 

First published in Blackwoods Magazine in 1859 The Lifted Veil is now oneof George Eliots most widely read and critically discussed short stories. Adark fantasy drawing on contemporary scientific interest in the physiology ofthe brain mesmerism phrenology and experiments in revification it isEliots anatomy of her own moral philosophy. Narrated by an egocentric morbidyoung clairvoyant man the story also explores fictions ability to offerinsight into the self as well as being a remarkable portrait of an artistwhose visionary powers merely blight his life.Published as a companion piece to The Lifted Veil Brother Jacob is bycontrast Eliots literary homage to Thackeray a satirical modern fable thatdraws telling parallels between eating and reading. With an illuminatingintroduction by Helen Small this Oxford Worlds Classics edition makes newlyavailable two fascinating short stories which fully deserve to be readalongside Eliots novels. «