Arthur and George

Julian Barnes has written an entertaining work which made for an excellent travel choice. His fictional work exploresa real-life case of mis-justice which brings together the son of an Parsi vicar in a small Staffordshire village and Arthur Conan-Doyle - writer and believer in the psychic world. Arthur and George is a carefully nuanced work which avoids sensationalism in exploring the inner worlds of two very different men, as well as ideas and notions of nationalism, race, spiritualism, class and culture. Barnes succeeds in making these two characters come to life as real human beings, as well as carefully controlling his unfolding narrative through these two men and those close to them.