Elizabeth Finch is about a platonic teacher-student relationship and how we come to idolize people who create poignant moments in our lives.
In this novel Neil is an adult learner in Elizabeth Finch’s class. She is an enigma. Although her teaching style is not to everyone’s liking, she has an affect on Neil that leads to a lifelong friendship (maybe friendship is too strong, mentorship).
The novel is broken into three parts. The first is the most charming, and where we are introduced to Elizabeth Finch. The second part is Neil’s look at EF’s research into early Christian history. It’s an academic essay parading as part of the novel. And, it is fascinating if you want to think about moments in history where we could have made different choices. In the third part, Neil tries to offers a more objective perspective of EF and her research.
I really like Julian Barnes’ work and this was a good read. Like EF, it’s not for everyone. The Guardian suggests that each new section is forced to compensate for the shortcomings of the last. Fair comment, I’d say. But I still liked it.
Available everywhere. Published in Canada by Penguin Random House.