Barnes is not straightforward in pointing the facts of the case, which might perturb some readers. The readers might be challenged by the pace of the book though.
It is a pleasure to read the book as it is different from the others. The book gives a good deal about the English of those days, their feelings and a lot about the biographical details of Arthur. Just as the Alfred Dreyfus case in France happened about the same time, with the ant-semitism, the victim wonders why his case did not achieve the same fame or notoriety. The case makes us reflect on reality too as the victim is part Indian, so the racism creeps into the case. Though it reads like detective fiction at times, there are loose ends which make us feel differently. Like all Sherlock Holmes like cases, we look forward to a dramatic closure. It makes us sympathize with the victim and feel glad that Sir Arthur takes up his case. Though the novel is long, it does not feel slow. The novel is very different from his earlier one, Flaubert's Parrot, written so long ago. The book describes in detail the costumes, conversations and locations of those times. The novel is partly from one person's point of view and partly from the other's. Though the novel has a leasurely pace with a lot of conversation showing the same type of writing as then, it is very different from the author's usual crisp writing and a marked difference at that.
Julian Barnes is an outstanding artist who can turn a novel into a history lesson and this one becomes almost real life. This book by Julian Barnes is based on turn of last century crime featuring Arthur Conan Doyle and his fighting for a man innocent of crime, George Edalji.
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