A book review from The Movie Snob.

The Egoist, by George Meredith. This 1879 British novel was recommended to me by a Ph.D. student with an interest in the field. I enjoyed it, although it is written in a difficult style and was a slow read. The title character is Sir Willoughby Patterne, a minor aristocrat who is 30ish and looking for a suitable spouse after having been jilted some time earlier. The young and vivacious Clara Middleton becomes engaged to Patterne, but as her wedding day approaches she becomes aware of his many faults and foibles (all stemming from his monstrous egotism, which has been fed since birth by everyone around him) and discovers that she does not love him. Bound by the rigid system of British customs and manners, and finding no support from her aloof father, she finds every avenue of escape closed off by the oppressive Patterne. How will things end? Check it out and see.