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Neil’s Platonic infatuation with Elizabeth, to whom he becomes a kind of protégé, serves as a counterpoint to his distinctly unsatisfactory romantic relationships. An unsuccessful actor, sometime waiter and intellectual striver, Neil joins a venerable line of Barnesian protagonists, men just about intelligent enough to grasp how limited their knowledge of others must be, but never quite sharp enough to realise how little they understand themselves. In the middle, in the form of a biographical essay, comes Neil’s effort at piecing together Elizabeth’s scholarly notes on the much-maligned Emperor Julian. The framing narrative consists of Elizabeth’s life story – or, rather, the mostly unsuccessful attempts of her admiring student Neil to construct that story. 'This is.Julian Barnes.in his best ambitious high concept mode, serious and playful at once.J ulian Barnes’s new novel has two main characters: Elizabeth Finch, quietly charismatic extramural tutor for mature students at the University of London, and Emperor Flavius Claudius Julianus, aka Julian the Apostate, the last non-Christian ruler of Rome. Wistful, thought-provoking stuff.' - Sunday Telegraph 'A new novel from Booker Prize winner Julian Barnes is always a literary event, and Elizabeth Finch.is not different. 'Elizabeth Finch ranks alongside Barnes' best.' - Joshua Pugh Ginn, UK Press Syndication A connoisseur and master of irony himself, he fills this book with instances of its exhilarating power.' - Peter Kemp, Sunday Times

also celebrates the cast of mind Barnes most prizes. A bravura exercise in nimbly handled erudition. 'The book's central and most enthralling als with a figure EF esteemed as a kindred spirit: Julian the Apostate. A cryptic crossword of a novel, Elizabeth Finch is a tricksier and even brainier version of Flaubert's Parrot.' - Frances Wilson, Oldie Barnes's latest novel, must be read at least twice for the full force of its voltage to be felt. 'Everything Barnes writes changes everything.

'A singular tale.'' - Stephanie Cross, Daily Mail, *Books to Look Out For 2022* Elizabeth Finch.offers plenty to chew on.with barely a sentence in it that doesn't have some nutritional value.'' - John Self, The Times

' is always clever, often original and unusually funny.