arthur and george - julian barnes

my sister made it very clear that if books were put on a bookshelf in shelfari.com then i should also comment on the reasons for the books being there.
so in this blog i will attempt to introduce arthur and george.

Why i chose the book in the first place:

because it was about arthur conan doyle who created sherlock holmes.
holmes is the first detective i read about. the book is semi biographical in nature and gives a perspective about conan doyle's interests at an eventful time in his life. his first wife dies after a prolonged illness and he is yet to propose to his chosen new wife. this is a woman whom he has been courting for nearly ten of the years when his wife was ailing. george edalji becomes the reason that arthur regains his zest for life after his first wife's death.

george edalji is the son of a parsi father who became a priest in mumbai and migrated to england. he then proceeded to marry a 'white' woman in england and became a parish priest. george was a meticulous, self contained person, studying to become a lawyer. but he is accused of killing cattle. the investigation is biased as he is a reclusive person, he is unjustly sent to prison and sentenced. arthur takes up his cause and delivers him to justice.

george edalji fascinated me since he is a 'half caste' in england but knows no other culture other than the one in which he is born and brought up in. he is very trusting of the british sense of fair play and cannot accept the fact that maybe he is being giving an unfair trial.