Its been years since I've read this, so I don't remember it well, but it is one of my favourite books, and I've successfully recommended it several times. ( )

Excellent book, great writer. The writer does not abuse the reader and each page builds on the previous one. Most of the characters are true historical people and I will read a few more books this writer has written.

Good to the last page. ( )

I mostly enjoyed this book, and it is certainly interesting to see how the four disparate accounts fit together in the end. There is an awful lot of information to keep straight, and at the same time I got tired of reading about the same story over and over again (despite the differences). A neat mystery, but one I was ready to be done with. ( )

"The Idols of the Theatre have got into the human Mind from the different Tenets of Philosophers and the perverted Laws of Demonstration. All Philosophies hitherto have been so many Stage Plays, having shewn nothing but fictitious and theatrical Worlds." - Francis Bacon

Four characters in turn tell of the same seditious events surrounding the Restoration of the Monarchy in seventeenth century England. A man is murdered and woman is hanged for the crime, but each retelling reveals more layers of truth, turning the plot on its head over and over. On the face of it, it's a mystery story of exceeding complexity, relying on the seductive power of the unreliable narrator(s) and an oppressive, world-worn, historical atmosphere that totally convinces. The oppositions of the Anabaptists and the Royal Society, of Cromwell and King Charles, the ideas of Descartes and Bacon, give the setting real depth. The details of the scholarship however are lightly worn, even with the presentation of real people as cameo characters, which I often find leaves authors prone to caricature. But not here.

There is also something to be said of it as a novel of ideas in its own right. The discussions of the nature of knowledge, scientific and religious, and the purpose of historical writing are woven in to the story with skill, and never appear clunky or bolted on. But as with the other Pears novel I have read, The Dream of Scipio, it is the subtleties of the emotional relationships which leave the most lasting impression. All round he shows lightness of touch in what could be worked up into very heavy subject matter indeed. A clever and rewarding novel.

Immensely enjoyable in a deep intellectual sort of way. Very reminiscent of John Fowles' A Maggot. Really doesn't matter how it ends - you just enjoy having been dropped into this world. ( )