An Instance of the Fingerpost. By Iain Pears

An Instance of the Fingerpost

Iain Pears

Jonathan Cape. First published 1997.

I read an electronic Epub version which I converted for Kindle. At first I guessed Iain Pears to be an Umberto Eco wannabe, but, on second thoughts, that seems unlikely. He is a well educated art historian, and novelist since 1991. His first series of books featured a detective who investigated crime in the world of art - maybe like the books of Dick Francis on horse racing. 'An Instance of the Fingerpost' was apparently the first of a series of historical thrillers, the most recent being 'Arcadia', in 2014. 

The title is taken from the writings of Francis Bacon, who first laid out what we now call and practice as the scientific method, stressing empirical evidence over deduction from 'first principles'. In his book of aphorisms 'Novum Organum Scientarum' (The New Method of Science) he recommends that 'Instances of the Fingerpost', or empirical clues, I suppose we would call them now, should point the way forward whenever any discussion about the truth of some occurrence cannot be resolved by pure reason. In the book, the occurrence in question is the death of a Don at Oxford. And the events, set in the decades following Bacon's demise, i.e. during the years of the English revolution, Oliver Cromwell's rule, and the restoration of Charles II on the throne, are related by four different people. The first three of these records - by a Venetian businessman/scientist/medical man/diplomat, by the ne'er-do-well son of a landed gent who found himself on the wrong side of the royalist/republican divide, and by a senior clergyman and academic at Oxford - are pompous and self-serving, and occasionally brutal. The last record, by one of the minor clergymen at Oxford, apparently approximates the truth. These characterisations are, of course, as meant by the author, and in that respect they are skillfully written. Most of the prominent characters are historical, as explained in the appended index of 'Dramatis Personae'. But the central character in all the stories, Sarah Blundy, the daughter of one the chief revolutionaries of Cromwell, is apparently based only partially on a historical woman. She is portrayed sympathetically, and it seems that the author wanted to give her story a kinder conclusion, but was held back by the requirements of literature.

I found Eco much deeper, and much better written, though the translation from Italian is probably responsible for the language in his books being less fluid than here. However in matters of plot and the narrative construction, Pears is closer to Dick Francis (though far superior), than to Eco. All the same Pears is an author to look out for, and I will try and find other books by him.