"Arthur & George"
by Julian Barnes
Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Arthur-George-Julian-Barnes/dp/0099492733/
Reading history and reviews
Finished in 2007
My friend Steve gave this to me for my birthday this year, and as it looked like the right kind of thickness and size for a transatlantic flight I decided that I would try and read it on my current trip. It turned out to be a really read, so I'm glad that circumstances worked out to give me the opportunity of reading it.
The "Arthur" of the title is Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, while "George" is George Edalji, who's wrongful conviction for the "Wyrley Outrages" (and Conan Doyle's subsequent involvement in re-examining the case) was one of the reasons that a Court of Appeal was established in the UK. The novel is a fictionalised account of the lives of the two men, but in the way that Julian Barnes weaves other aspects of the two men's lives into the story it also reminded me very much of Glen David Gold's novel Carter Beats The Devil. I highly recommend both.