Elizabeth Finch: A novel

"Charming." —Molly Young, The New York Times Book Review   “Cerebral, essayistic. . . . The character of Elizabeth Finch that the novel is centred around is intriguing, and Barnes’s beautiful prose wholly encapsulates absolute adoration.” —Book Riot   “Characteristically cerebral. . . . Longtime fans won't be surprised to learn that the English author's Elizabeth Finch is erudite yet accessible. . . . He's no less observant, no less dogged in his pursuit of intellectual clarity. [Barnes will] keep after an idea until he—and his readers—gets it. In this way, he's a lot like the lead character of this elegant novel.” —Star Tribune (Minneapolis)"Barnes' reputation precedes him as an immersive and gentle storyteller, someone transfixed with humanness, the mystery at the center of personhood, and most importantly, the fallibility of memory and story. In typical Barnesian fashion, Elizabeth Finch's narrator, Neil, can trace the origin of his person, the turning point of his life, back to . . . a class he took with the larger-than-life Elizabeth Finch. . . . Perhaps one of Barnes’ most personal novels, he pulls almost direct quotes from his 2016 obituary of his real-life friend and novelist, Anita Brookner as he describes [Elizabeth]. . . . Elizabeth Finch is an interrogation of what it means to make a study of someone else, love someone, to be changed by someone, and to realize we maybe never have known them at all." —Julia Hass, contributing editor, LitHub "Elizabeth Finch by Julian Barnes is more than a novel. It's a loving tribute to philosophy, a careful evaluation of history, and an invitation to think for ourselves. It's a moment to reflect and gently explore our own theories and assumptions. It is truly a balm for our times." —Germiston City News (South Africa)  "A novel of ideas . . . Elizabeth Finch offers plenty to chew on . . . with barely a sentence in it that doesn't have some nutritional value. . . . I'll remember Elizabeth Finch when most other characters I've met this year have faded." —John Self, The Times (UK)"The book is the most philosophical of novels, from a writer who has never hesitated to address philosophical issues. Barnes is asking his readers for the same serious engagement that Elizabeth Finch demands of her students. Readers will respond in their own way to this challenge. Some will be encouraged to reflect on their relationships with others; some will read the book as a puzzle with no satisfactory resolution; others will interpret it as an account of an obsession that takes over a person’s life. But Barnes' novel is not a philosophical treatise. His narrator is not motivated merely by curiosity. The novel is fundamentally a love story." —The Conversation "A lyrical, thoughtful and intriguing exploration of love, grief and the collective myths of history. Barnes adds yet another remarkable title to his astoundingly remarkable body of work." —Booklist"A singular tale." —Daily Mail (UK)"Everything Barnes writes changes everything . . . Barnes's latest novel, must be read at least twice for the full force of its voltage to be felt . . . A cryptic crossword of a novel, Elizabeth Finch is a trickier and even brainier version of Flaubert's Parrot." —Frances Wilson, Oldie "A bravura exercise in nimbly handled erudition. . . . A connoisseur and master of irony himself, [Julian Barnes] fills this book with instances of its exhilarating power." —Peter Kemp, Sunday Times "Elizabeth Finch ranks alongside Barnes' best." —Joshua Pugh Ginn, UK Press Syndication "A new novel from Booker Prize winner Julian Barnes is always a literary event, and Elizabeth Finch . . . is not different. Wistful, thought-provoking stuff." —Sunday Telegraph "This is . . . Julian Barnes . . . in his best ambitious high concept mode, serious and playful at once." —The Tablet  "A surprisingly compelling novel . . . a thought-provoking book that plays with the relationship between author and reader." ―Lady“[Elizabeth Finch] is a heartfelt celebration of the life of the mind. . . . This is a novel that rejects the rigid convictions of cultural polemics while constructing a qualified but resolute polemic of its own.” —The Times Literary Supplement   “Sophisticated and subtle, [Elizabeth Finch] is also enthralling. . . . The author holds various surprises and revelations in reserve to keep the plot’s gentle momentum going.” —The Herald“A nice commentary on our own shabby, scoundrel time.” —The Scotsman   “It’s tremendously entertaining. . . . Barnes has always enjoyed testing the boundary between fact and fiction, and here he pushes it to the limit. In the final part . . . Barnes the chronicler of ideas steps aside, and Barnes the novelist takes over, [bringing] a series of haunting images.” —The Irish Times