So many of us did, and while it's an excellent story, I wonder if that's the best place for people to begin. My experience was similar to yours in that after reading Silas Marner at 12 or 13, I didn't get excited about Eliot until years later when I read another book--in my case Middlemarch (followed by other things she'd written). Glad to know I'm not alone on this one. Thanks.