The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
Tom and Maggie Tulliver are two children who grew up in Dorlcote Mill, which has been in their family for generations. The children have many extended families living nearby, and their aunts and uncles often come to argue with each other and to scold Tom and Maggie. Tulliver's boys have a stormy relationship. They spend most of their time getting along or arguing horribly. Maggie in particular is very intelligent and very emotional and is always in trouble.
Two main things are in the works for the Tullivers: school and a lawsuit. Tom and Maggie are both sent to school and Tom receives an extravagant, if pointless, education. At school he meets a deformed boy named Philip Wakem, son of Mr. Tulliver's archenemy. Mr. Tulliver does not like Mr. Wakem, a lawyer, as he is involved in a lawsuit against one of Wakem's clients. Mr. Tulliver loses the case and things quickly go downhill for the Tulliver family. They fail and Mr. Tulliver's health begins to deteriorate. Mr. Wakem buys the Tulliver family mill, which causes Mr. Tulliver to hate the Wakem even more and to curse them in the family Bible.
After the case fails, Tulliver's kids are forced to drop out of school and start working. Tom is a slave to one of his uncles and is obsessed with paying off family debts. Maggie finds solace in an extreme form of religion, but she later sets it aside in favor of a secret friendship with Philip Wakem, who has been in love with Maggie since their first meeting. Maggie's passionate nature continues to cause her a lot of emotional distress.
Tom discovers Maggie's relationship with Philip and forbids her to see him again. Maggie is torn, but decides that family loyalty comes first. Her relationship with Tom is severely damaged. Shortly thereafter, Tom manages to pay off his family debts, but the triumph is ruined when Mr. Tulliver attacks Mr. Wakem and then dies shortly thereafter. The Tullivers must get away from the mill.
A few years pass and Maggie returns from a period as a governess to be with her cousin Lucy. Tom has made his way into his uncle's business and is now successful. Maggie meets Stephen Guest, Lucy's boyfriend, and the two quickly fall in love. Philip also returns and Maggie is involved in a messy love quadrilateral. Eventually, Stephen and Maggie are unable to control their feelings and the two try to escape. But Maggie has a crisis of conscience and she leaves Stephen, returning home in disgrace.
Although Maggie reconciles with those closest to her, she is unable to make amends with the critic Tom. After a period of intense emotional pain for Maggie, the local river floods. Maggie goes to rescue Tom and the two reconcile their differences. But Tom and Maggie drowned in the flood. The other characters survive and move on with their lives and Tom and Maggie are buried together.
