Arthur and George - Julian Barnes

Barnes had somewhat fallen off my radar in recent years, despite great youthful enthusiasm for his stuff, particularly the wonderful A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters. This fine novel puts him right back up there.

It's the story of an unlikely but true friendship between Arthur Conan Doyle and a rural doctor of Indian descent who is accused of horrific local crimes. The themes covered range through Englishness, race, the nature of belief and the evidence that we demand before we believe in anything. Barnes takes us through these ideas with a page-turning plot and characters that we really care about.

A highly successful novel in every aspect.