George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) made her fictional debut when Scenes of Clerical Life" appeared in " Blackwoods Magazine" in 1857. These stories contain Eliots earliest studies of what became enduring themes in her great novels: the impact of religious controversy & social change in provincial life & the power of love to transform the lives of individual men & women. " Adam Bede" was soon to appear & bring George Eliot fame & fortune. In the meantime the " Scenes" won acclaim from a discerning readership including Charles Dickens: I hope you will excuse my writing to you to express my admiration... The exquisite truth & delicacy both of the humour & the pathos of those stories I have never seen the like of."