Intriguing historical fiction centered around a court case involving Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and a lawyer named George Edalji who spent time in prison for a minor offense.
I really liked Barnes' description of the ordinary racism George faced as a biracial Briton (racial purity was a common theme in British literature at the time), as well as his account of the late 19th century fad of spiritualism (I recently saw the Tissot exhibit in Paris, and some of his artwork was influenced by spiritualism after his mistress/muse Kathleen Newton passed away).
However I remember (once again!) being annoyed by the sensation of short-storyism while reading, since Barnes seesawed between Arthur's and George's lives.
I really liked Barnes' description of the ordinary racism George faced as a biracial Briton (racial purity was a common theme in British literature at the time), as well as his account of the late 19th century fad of spiritualism (I recently saw the Tissot exhibit in Paris, and some of his artwork was influenced by spiritualism after his mistress/muse Kathleen Newton passed away).
However I remember (once again!) being annoyed by the sensation of short-storyism while reading, since Barnes seesawed between Arthur's and George's lives.