Felix Holt, the Radical is an 1866 social novel and political novel by the English author George Eliot. The novel deals with political conflicts in a small English town at the time of the 1832 Reform Act. The plot centres on an election in which Harold Transome, a local landowner, runs for the "radical cause" for tactical reasons, contrary to his family's conservative tradition. Transome's opportunism is contrasted by Felix Holt, a young working-class man who rebels against the corruption and injustice of his time. Another plotline concerns Esther Lyon, the stepdaughter of a nonconformist clergyman, who is the true heiress to the Transome estate without knowing it. She must ultimately choose between a future with Harold Transome or Felix Holt. Her choice symbolizes the novel's central conflict between different lifestyles and social ideas.

Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Updated Jun 16, 2026.