Katherine writes:

Mary Ann Evans Cross was born on November 22, 1819, in
Warwickshire, England. To readers, she is known as George Eliot,
her male pen name chosen to ensure that her works were taken
seriously.
Female writers were allowed to publish under their own names,
however were ridiculed and merely portrayed as writers of
romance. To eliminate this scrutiny, Cross was smart to associate
as George Eliot when publishing her novels, and if she hadn't
perhaps her incredible pieces of work, such as "The Mill On The
Floss", would have been simply and carelessly overlooked due to
gender.
After a devout childhood of religious pietism, Evans Cross got
her first break while working as assistant editor of the
Westminster Review. She meets George Henry Lewes, editor of The
Leader, and so begins a twenty four year involvement, he as her
advisor and companion. Lewes, a married man and father left his
mistress stricken and lonely when he dies in 1878. And so ends
the scandalous relationship, and the man who chiefly influenced
Evans Cross's novels.
The year of her passing, 1880, Lewis marries John Cross. She is
remembered as an author of realism and psychological
perspicacity, and as one of the leading writers of the Victorian
Era. Her books reflect charming provincial England, and are
extremely well- written, to this day proving that George Eliot is
a classic and an exceptionally talented author.