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this book was a very good find since i had not come across any biographies of the creator of sherlock holmes...........
it talks about the influence that doyle's mother had during his childhood with her stories of knights and ladies; of the unconventional relationship she had with a doctor slightly older than him when his father was in a lunatic asylum; of the blind eye she turned when doyle himself fell in love with another woman -while his wife fell prey to tuberculosis- and whom he eventually married.
his medical career was something which he kept in the background though he did try to earn his living initially by being a doctor, but his heart does not appear to have been in it...
then there is the unimaginable success of his sherlock holmes books while he tries hard to get his other novels noticed by his devoted readers. he was proud of his other novels but i doubt if any of us have even heard of them!!!
in his later years he took to parapsychology and was staunchly supported by his wife. it somehow cast a shadow on the reputation of such a great man- a doctor, the creator of holmes who though a fictional character, relied upon reason to provide him solutions- was now advocating and devoting time and energy to the study of ghosts...........
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.
