SYNOPSIS

Arthur and George grow up worlds and miles apart in late nineteenth-century Britain: Arthur in shabby-genteel Edinburgh, George in the vicarage of a small Staffordshire village. Arthur becomes a doctor, and then a writer; George a solicitor in Birmingham. Arthur is to become one of the most famous men of his age, George remains in hardworking obscurity. But as the new century begins, they are brought together by a sequence of events which made sensational headlines at the time as The Great Wyrley Outrages.

With a mixture of detailed research and vivid imagination, Julian Barnes brings to life not just this long-forgotten case, but the inner workings of these two very different men. This is a novel in which the events of a hundred years ago constantly set off contemporary echoes, a novel about low crime and high spirituality, guilt and innocence, identity, nationality and race. Most of all it is a profound and moving meditation on the fateful difference between what we believe, what we know and what we can prove.

Arthur & Georgeby JULIAN BARNES

STARTING POINTS FOR YOUR DISCUSSION

How did knowing that the ‘Great Wyrley Outrages’ really took place affect your reading of the book? Did it surprise you that the creator of Sherlock Holmes was not infallible as a detective?

Throughout the novel the influence of family on the protagonists is clear. Discuss how powerful characters such as the Reverend Shapurji and The Man hold influence over their children and in what ways this affects their actions.

As George Edalji’s religious belief wanes, his faith in the law deepens to a conviction. He ‘knows the laws of England, and knows that he can count on their support’. How does this prove ironic, and how do you think George reconciles himself to this?

Arthur is spellbound by the Mam’s tales of Arthurian knights and his illustrious lineage; so much so that he retains both a joy of storytelling and a pride in his heritage to the end of his life. When seeking to recommend Jean to the man for the first time, Arthur ‘stresses Jean’s ancestry... a lineage designed to seduce any amateur genealogist.’ Why does Arthur set so much store by ancestry, and do you think George feels the same about his Parsi heritage.

Does it surprise you that the sceptical Jean became a fervent spiritualist? What are your views on spiritualism?

‘A beautiful and engrossing work’Independent on Sunday

What do you think was more fundamental in shaping the course of George’s future life – the unusual circumstances of his upbringing (including his uncorrected sight impediment, social isolation and repressive sleeping arrangements), or the effects of the campaign of persecution and wrongful imprisonment he suffered?

‘Remarks are occasionally passed in his direction which are quite unnecessary: about bleach, and his mother forgetting the Carbolic’. George remains adamant that racial prejudice had no bearing in his case, but we are led to believe that Arthur saw the case differently. What is your opinion?

Why do you think that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was so uncomfortable with the success of his fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes? Do you think his aversion was borne of a sort of literary snobbery and that perhaps he would have preferred to have been known as a writer of literary novels rather than pacy detective stories – or could it have been a matter of ego – that Doyle felt overshadowed by the character he had created?

The concept of honour was obviously deeply important to Doyle, which again extends back to his fascination with Arthurian legend. Do you feel that his conduct in maintaining a platonic (albeit emotionally intense) relationship with Jean Leckie during Touie’s lifetime was indeed honourable? Is it our actions themselves or the intentions they represent which define us as ‘honourable’ or otherwise?

Did Jean Leckie strike you as strikingly independent, or was she in her own way just as subservient in her behaviour towards Arthur as Touie. Compare and contrast these two women and what they reveal about what it was like to be a woman in the Victorian era?

RECEPTION & REVIEWS

‘From the first paragraphs we know ourselves to be in the hands of a major novelist and are borne forward by a compelling narrative, beautifully controlled, which combines the satisfactions of biography, social history and the excitement of a real-life detective story... Barnes at his best’ The Times

‘Excellent... Meticulously researched and vividly imagined, both gripping and thoughtful’ Sunday Telegraph

‘As ever, Barnes serves up a master-class in character observation, lavishing attention on the minutiae of personality, the subtle and conflicting impulses that drive men and women. Barnes seems equipped to write with humour and elegance about anything he turns his attention to’ Financial Times

‘Richly accomplished... Dazzling’ Sunday Times

‘A fine literary detective novel and a rich evocation of a somewhat troubled England on the cusp of modernity’ Mail on Sunday

‘A beguiling and enormously readable novel’ Independent

‘An engaging work... Arthur and George is as sprightly and acute a biography of Doyle, and as touching a sketch of the persecuted Edalji, as anyone would wish for’ New Statesman

INTERVIEWS WITH THE AUTHOR

Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/dec/01/barnes-authors-typewriters

Independent: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/julian-barnes-i-may-not-like-it-much-but-i-still-live-

BIOGRAPHY

Julian Barnes is the author of nine novels, including Metroland, Flaubert’s Parrot, A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters, England, England, Love Etc. and most recently The Sense of an Ending, which is longlisted for the 2011 Man Booker Prize. He is also the author of a non-fiction work, Nothing to be Frightened Of, and three collections of short stories, Cross Channel,The Lemon Table and most recently, Pulse.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

MetrolandBefore She Met MeFlaubert’s ParrotStaring at the SunA History of the World in 10½ ChaptersTalking it OverThe PorcupineLetters from London Cross Channel

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING

The Adventures and Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan DoyleThe Complete Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Julian Barnes’ Official Website: http://www.julianbarnes.com/ Information about George Edalji: http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/edaljiJulian Barnes on Sir Arthur Conan Doyles’ home: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2006/jul/08/arts.booksAnalysis of the Great Wyrley Outrages: http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/stoke/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8611000/8611659.stm

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England, EnglandLove, etcSomething to DeclareThe Pedant in the Kitchen The Lemon TableArthur & GeorgeNothing to Be Frightened OfPulseThe Sense of an Ending