I found this fictional account of the lives of Arthur Conan Doyle and George Edalji, the falsely accused man whose real-life case Conan Doyle investigated (leading to the formation of the Court of Criminal Appeal), both intriguing and convincing.
Both characters are presented as fascinatingly flawed, and the young George's complete lack of awareness of any racial hostility towards himself or his father is particularly compelling. Conan Doyle's relationships with the women in his life are equally complex and believable: he adores and is dominated by the "Mam", feels chivalrous towards his "timid, tractable" - and chastely consumptive - wife, and falls deeply in love with Jean Leckie, who he struggles to maintain a platonic relationship with for the sake of "honour".
The novel works very well as an evocation of the period and an exploration of the nature of identity and the shaping of adult lives by narratives learned in childhood. However, I found this book less emotionally engaging than some of Barnes' other work - perhaps because of the knowing detachment with which the main characters are described.
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