Arthur & George, by Julian Barnes, is a historical novel about two real men, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and George Edalji. Barnes's narrative covers both lives, switching back and forth between the families, childhoods, professions, and personal affairs of each man. There is much to contrast and little to compare. One man becomes rich and famous, while the other lives a modest life in obscurity.

However, there is something about George Edalji's life that keeps it from being an ordinary one: George is accused, tried, and convicted of a heinous crime that he did not commit. In fact, the charges are so ridiculous that they are literary hard to fathom. Racial prejudice most certainly was at the root of George's extreme misfortune, but George was too naive and too logical to be able to imagine this. After all, he was a native Englishman and a solictor--an educated man. His father, Shapurji Edalji, was the Vicar of Wyrley, and his mother was from a nice English family. The greater world outside the vicarage, where his father was sometimes referred to as "the Hindoo," despite the fact that Shapurji came from a family of Zoroastrians (Parsis) and grew up to be a clergyman in the Anglican Church, does not infiltrate George's mind at all.

In 1903, George Edalji was sent to prison and served three years of a seven-year sentence before being released to a shell of a life--he could not practice law, had to let the police know where he was all the time, and was considered an ex-convict. Many people knew he was innocent, and wrote letters to the papers and started petitions, all to no avail until George wrote to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, in the hope that a famous writer could help him get a free pardon and a normal life.

And so they met, and two very different worlds and minds collided. Both characters are drawn in lavish detail in this fascinating, true story. What I found most interesting was George's astute perceptions about Arthur, his interest in spiritualism, and the contradictions it posed. I realize that George's character could be entirely made up, since his life and opinions were not so documented. It seems that Julian Barnes has taken some clues from Edalji's book on railway law, and bestowed all the same logic and calmness to his personality. In any case, Barnes has painted George Edalji as a very appealing character, one that I enjoyed meeting.