This excellent novel combines a vivid evocation of 1663 Oxford, with Restoration
politics, period science and medicine and a murder mystery. When Dr. Robert
Grove is found murdered, we are offered four perspectives of what happened to
him from: Marco da Cola, an Italian physician visiting England; Jack Prescott,
son of a disgraced traitorous nobleman; Dr. John Wallis, a mathematician and
cryptographer; and Anthony Wood, a local antiquarian.

As each tells his tale, we get additional layers of fact & fiction and intrigue,
both grand and petty, until finally, the true story is revealed.

A truly wonderful read.

(Reviewed:)

Grade: (A) Orrin C. Judd

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Iain Pears Links:

    -EXCERPT: from An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears
    -EXCERPT: from Dream of Scipio (Penguin Putnam)
    -EXCERPT: from The Portrait by Iain Pears
    -INTERVIEW: Iain Pears: 'It is the civilised who are truly barbaric': In his new novel, Iain Pears spends 2,000 years in Provence - and reveals the low cruelty of high culture. (Jane Jakeman, 18 May 2002, The Independent uk)
    -AUTHOR SITE: Iain Pears (Penguin Putnam)
    -MEET THE WRITERS: Iain Pears (Barnes & Noble)
    -Iain Pears (Bastulli Mystery Library)
    -Iain Pears (Stop You're Killing Me)
    -AUTHOR SITE: Iain Pears (Random House)
    -READING GROUP GUIDE: An Intance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears
    -INFO: An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears (Book Browse)
    -READING GROUP GUIDE: The Dream of Scipio by Iain Pears
    -INFO: The Dream of Scipio by Iain Pears (Book Browse)
    -ESSAY: Collaboration and Collusion in Iain Pears’s The Dream of Scipio (Stephen Bonnycastle, Professor of English, Royal Military College of Canada)
    -ARCHIVES: "iain pears" (Find Articles)
    -REVIEW: of An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears (Andrew Miller, NY Times Book Review)
    -REVIEW ARCHIVES: The Dream of Scipio by Iain Pears (Reviews of Books)
    -REVIEW: of The Dream of Scipio by Iain Pears (2002) (The Complete Review)
    -REVIEW: of Dream of Scipio (John Crowley, NY Times Book Review)
    -REVIEW: of Dream of Scipio (Geraldine Brooks, Washington Post)
    -REVIEW: of Dream of Scipio (LAWRENCE GROSSMAN, The Forward)
    -REVIEW: of Dream of Scipio (Nikki Abraham, Catholic New Times)
    -REVIEW: of Dream of Scipio (Ron Charles, CS Monitor)
    -REVIEW: of Dream of Scipio (Tom Holland, Daily Telegraph)
    -REVIEW: of Dream of Scipio (David Robson, Daily Telegraph)
    -REVIEW: of Dream of Scipio (Ian Sansom, The Guardian)
    -REVIEW: of Dream of Scipio (Jonathan Heawood, The Observer)
    -REVIEW: of Dream of Scipio (Carey Harrison, SF Chronicle)
    -REVIEW: of Dream of Scipio (Fatema Ahmed, The Spectator)
    -REVIEW: of Dream of Scipio (Deirdre Donahue, USA Today)
    -REVIEW: of Dream of Scipio (Len Barcousky, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
    -REVIEW: of Dream of Scipio (CHRISTOPHER KELLY, Knight Ridder Newspapers)
    -REVIEW: of The Immaculate Deception by Iain Pears (2000) (The Complete Review)
    -REVIEW ARCHIVES: The Portrait by Iain Pears (Reviews of Books)
    -REVIEW: of the Portrait by Iain Pears (Yvonne Zipp, CS Monitor)
    -REVIEW: of The Portrait (Terry Tazioli, The Seattle Times)
    -REVIEW: of Death and Restoration by Iain Pears (Marilyn Stasio, NY Times Book Review)

Book-related and General Links:

If you liked An Instance of the Fingerpost, try:

Alexander, Bruce
    (Sir John Fielding Mysteries)
        -Blind Justice
        -Murder in Grub Street
        -Watery Grave

Cowell, Stephanie
    -Nicholas Cooke : Actor, Soldier, Physician, Priest : A Novel

Eco, Umberto
    -The Name of the Rose

Neville, Katherine
    -The Eight

Penman, Sharon Kay
    -The Queen's Man: a Medieval Mystery    (Read Orrin's review, Grade: B-)

Perez-Reverte, Arturo
    -The Flanders Panel

Unsworth, Barry
    -Morality Play