Adam Bede followed in 1859, the Mill on the Floss in 1860, Silas Marner in 1861, Romola in 1863, Felix Holt in 1866, and Middlemarch in 1872.

At the end of fifteen years the Raveloe men said just the same things about Silas Marner as at the beginning.

But the unexpected success proved to be an inspiration, and she completed The Mill on the Floss and began Silas Marner during the following year.

Adam Bede is, in construction, the most perfect of her novels, and Silas Marner of her shorter stories.

This is the history of Silas Marner until the fifteenth year after he came to Raveloe.