''Arthur & George'' (2005) is the tenth novel by English author

Julian Barnes Julian Patrick Barnes (born 19 January 1946) is an English writer. He won the Man Booker Prize in 2011 with ''The Sense of an Ending'', having been shortlisted three times previously with '' Flaubert's Parrot'', ''England, England'', and '' Art ...

which takes as its basis the true story of the " Great Wyrley Outrages".

Plot introduction

Set at the turn of the 20th century, the story follows the separate but intersecting lives of two very different British men: a half-Indian solicitor and son of a vicar,

George Edalji George Ernest Thompson Edalji (22 January 1876 – 17 June 1953) was an English solicitor and son of a vicar of Parsi descent in a Staffordshire village. He became known as a victim of a miscarriage of justice for having served three years' ...

, and the world-famous author of the

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...

stories,

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for '' A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...

. Roughly one-third of the book traces the story of Edalji's trial, conviction, and imprisonment for a crime he did not commit. About one-third of the book traces the story of Doyle's life and his relationships with his first wife Louisa Hawkins and his platonic lover Jean Leckie. Roughly one-third of the book concerns Doyle's attempt to clear the name of Edalji and uncover the true culprit of the crime. Julian Barnes called it "a contemporary novel set in the past" and the book does not aim to stick closely to the historical record at every point.

Characters in ''Arthur & George''

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

*Charlotte Edalji née Stoneham, George's mother *

Shapurji Edalji Shapurji Edalji (1841/1842 – 23 May 1918) was an Indian-born convert to Anglicanism who was likely the first person from South Asia to be made the vicar of an English parish. His achievements have however been overshadowed by the worldwide fasc ...

, George's father,

vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

Great Wyrley Great Wyrley is a large village and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. It is coterminous with the villages of Landywood and Cheslyn Hay in the South Staffordshire district. It lies 5.5 miles north of Walsall, West Midlands. It had a popu ...

*Maud Edalji, George's sister *Mr. Meek, George's lawyer *

, the famous author *Jean Leckie, Conan Doyle's second wife *Louisa Doyle née Hawkins, Doyle's wife *The Mam, Arthur's mother *Connie Doyle Hornung, Arthur's sister *Willie Hornung (

E. W. Hornung Ernest William Hornung (7 June 1866 – 22 March 1921) was an English author and poet known for writing the A. J. Raffles (character), A. J. Raffles series of stories about a gentleman thief in late 19th-century London. Hornung was educa ...

), Connie's husband *Mary Doyle, Arthur and Louisa's daughter

Dramatisation

Playwright David Edgar has dramatized the work for the

Birmingham Repertory Theatre Birmingham Repertory Theatre, commonly called Birmingham Rep or just The Rep, is a producing theatre based on Centenary Square in Birmingham, England. Founded by Barry Jackson, it is the longest-established of Britain's building-based theatre c ...

, with the opening performance scheduled for 19 March 2010. In 2014, for broadcast in 2015, ITV commissioned a three-part television series ''

Arthur & George ''Arthur & George'' (2005) is the tenth novel by English author Julian Barnes which takes as its basis the true story of the " Great Wyrley Outrages". Plot introduction Set at the turn of the 20th century, the story follows the separate but int ...

'' based on Arthur & George, starring

Martin Clunes Alexander Martin Clunes OBE DL (born 28 November 1961) is an English actor, comedian, director and television presenter. He is best known for portraying Martin Ellingham in the ITV comedy-drama series ''Doc Martin'' and Gary Strang in ''Men Be ...

as Arthur Conan Doyle.

Awards and nominations

* 2005

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a Literary award, literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United King ...

shortlist * 2007

International Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award ( ga, Duais Liteartha Idirnáisiúnta Bhaile Átha Chliath), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. ...

shortlist

Release details

*2005, UK, Jonathan Cape , Pub date 7 July 2005, hardback *2005, Canada, Random House , Pub date 9 September 2005, hardback *2006, USA, Alfred A. Knopf , Pub date 3 January 2006, hardback

References

:3. Oldfield, Roger ''Outrage: The Edalji Five and the Shadow of Sherlock Holmes'', Vanguard Press ()

External links

''Arthur & George'' site
*Risinger, D. Michael. (2006). Boxes in Boxes: Julian Barnes, Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes and the Edalji Case. International Commentary on Evidence, 4 (2), Article 3, pp. 1–9

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arthur and George 2005 British novels Novels by Julian Barnes Historical novels Arthur Conan Doyle Jonathan Cape books Great Wyrley British novels adapted into television shows Cultural depictions of Arthur Conan Doyle