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An Instance of the Fingerpost |
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 An Instance of the Fingerpost byIain Pears Riverhead Books 704 pages, 2000 ISBN 1573227951 Reviewed by Julie Failla Earhart Ian Pears’ masterpiece, AN INSTANCE OF THE FINGERPOST, is rich in historical detail, religious zeal, scientific wonder, and political intrigue. Set in the late 1600s, this complex novel tells the tale of the murder of Dr. Robert Grove (an Oxford professor) from four different viewpoints. Pears does a phenomenal job in mixing real-life characters with fictional characters. Written in a manner similar to William Faulkner’s ABSALOM! ABSALOM!, Pears feeds his readers with important information bit by bit, thereby keeping them turning the pages. The first speaker is Marco de Cola of Venice. He is in England on business for his father. Now destitute, he befriends Richard Lower, physician and physiologist. De Cola assists Lower is performing an experimental blood transfusion on an impoverished woman, Anne Blundy. De Cola discovers the body of Grove and subsequently points the finger at Anne’s daughter, Sarah, a servant in many Oxford households, Grove’s included. Sarah is charged and hung. Along with the murder, this first section gives, in extremely minute detail, the primitive aspect of medical knowledge of the time. Pears’ research is remarkable. The second section is rather confusing at first, for it is some time before we know who is speaking. It turns out that Jack Prescott, son of convicted traitor Sir James Prescott, has taken over the storytelling. Here the story line bogs down as the political complexities are examined and explained in detail. It is hard to follow and a tad on the dry side. I wish I had known there was a Chronology of Events and Dramatis Personae at the end of the book, as this would have helped immensely. But readers should hang on as near the end of the section, the stories collide and the plot twists and turns seemingly without end. The speaker of section three is also not readily identified. It is Dr. John Wallis, a cryptographer, who had much to do with the conviction of Prescott, the defeat of King Charles I and the dominance of Oliver Cromwell. Again readers will wonder where it’s all going and how the murder of Dr. Grove gets lost in political and scientific developments. The fourth and final section is told from the viewpoint of Anthony Wood. He was vaguely mentioned in the other three sections and I had a hard time determining why Pears chose him to relate the final events, but it is he who intimately knows Sarah and has a vast knowledge of her days before Dr. Grove’s death. I thought I had the entire plot all figured out when I reached this section, but I was in for some big surprises. Pears solidifies the plot and weaves it intelligently and specifically with all the details littered throughout the novel. AN INSTANCE OF THE FINGERPOST is a well-crafted, multi-layered mystery, with something for everyone: political intrigue, religion, sex, death, romance, science, math, history and even a dash of witchcraft. It is rather difficult to read as the details tend to slow the plot. However, the reader who hangs in there will be rewarded. During the three weeks it took me to read this novel, I kept wondering if it was really worth reading. And when I turned the last page, I was glad I had. |
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