If you’ve dipped your toe in the waters of Barnes’ most recent nonfiction, The Man in the Red Coat, you’ll have a flavour of what to expect in his telling of the life of Julian – it is as much about how Julian was seen by later historians as it is about Julian himself (although we hear you when you tell us that those could well both be the same thing). After she dies, she bequeaths her books and papers to her friend, our narrator, who takes his own sweet time to arrive at the conclusion that there were really no bombshells to be uncovered – but by way of tribute he writes an essay about Julian the Apostate, a Roman Emperor from 361 to 363, which fills a goodly third of this small book.

To begin with, it seems we have a novel keen to tell us the story of one Elizabeth Finch, a teacher of sorts, a genuine individual, an interesting character, as observed by one of her students, a man between marriages unable to deliver the demands of the course thanks to various pressures who goes on to be her curious, detached friend over a number of years and a number of dinners, during which she always picked up the bill.Įlizabeth is a compelling and curious woman. What we have here is a veritable game of two halves, each of which are separated by a half-time of undue length that sorely tests your patience with the story being told. But even we have struggled with his latest. Bookmunch regulars will know that we like Julian Barnes a whole lot. Published in Canada by Penguin Random House.Ah, what a mixed-up, muddled-up, shook up book is Elizabeth Finch. But I still liked it.Īvailable everywhere. The Guardian suggests that each new section is forced to compensate for the shortcomings of the last.

I really like Julian Barnes’ work and this was a good read. In the third part, Neil tries to offers a more objective perspective of EF and her research. And, it is fascinating if you want to think about moments in history where we could have made different choices. It’s an academic essay parading as part of the novel. The second part is Neil’s look at EF’s research into early Christian history. The first is the most charming, and where we are introduced to Elizabeth Finch. Although her teaching style is not to everyone’s liking, she has an affect on Neil that leads to a lifelong friendship (maybe friendship is too strong, mentorship). In this novel Neil is an adult learner in Elizabeth Finch’s class. Elizabeth Finch is about a platonic teacher-student relationship and how we come to idolize people who create poignant moments in our lives.

Julian barnes elizabeth finch reviews