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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Compelling combination of history and mystery, 18 Jun 2003
By A Customer
In setting his novel in Oxford during the 1660s, a period of considerable political ferment, Pears has created the ideal backdrop for a lengthy but highly enjoyable novel which combines the best traditions of intellectual scholarship and a plot with real drive. The murder of Dr Robert Grove, a fellow of New College, and the events surrounding it are narrated from four significantly different points of view; Marco da Cola, a Venetian Catholic doctor newly arrived in Britain; Jack Prescott, son of a Royalist traitor and desperate to clear his beloved father's name; John Wallis, one of the mathematical giants whose shoulders bore Newton and a cryptographer to the courts of both Cromwell and Charles II; and Anthony Wood, an antiquary. All of these narratives, whilst necessarily differing in terms of fact, are also clearly defined voices without being caricatured, and the novel is suffused with characters of real depth, whether historical or fictitious, such as prime suspect Sarah Blundy, daughter of a religious dissenter, her mother, and the likes of Lower, Locke, Grove and Boyle.
The main character in the novel, however, is historical Oxford itself. As easy as it is to take this depiction for granted, the consistent references to actual historical figures and contemporary developments in medicine and fashion, as well as the acute observation of the social mores and deep-seated insecurity at the time of the Restoration are, on reflection, simply breathtaking: the depth of Pears' research is astonishing, and never intrudes on the development of the plot.
It is the plot, however, which slightly depreciates the five-star status the backdrop to this novel unquestionably demands. Whilst the conflicting descriptions of the course of events are as skilfully handled as the voices which relate them, I did not find the plot as genuinely 'unputdownable' as other reviewers have maintained. The conclusion, with its inevitable twist, is a bold attempt to resolve the mystery surrounding the discrepancy between accounts, but ultimately evokes a curiously mixed sense of incredulity and dissatisfaction. As spectacular as the setting and the narratives may be, it is this unsatisfactory ending which remains in the reader's mind, a crying shame when much of the novel which preceded the 'instance of the fingerpost' was so utterly exemplary.
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21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Instances of the Fingerpost shew the true, inviolable Way.", 17 Nov 2005
Oxford in 1663, just after the restoration of Charles II to the throne, was the intellectual center of England. The country was in ferment after eleven years of rule by Oliver Cromwell and a devastating civil war, and disagreements and passions ran high. Conflicts in religious dogma ranged from the Puritanism of Cromwell to the Church of England, Quakerism, and Catholicism. Political conflicts were obviously connected with the religious conflicts, and intellectual, scientific, and philosophical investigations were calling many long-held beliefs into question.It is in this turbulent Oxford milieu that Dr. Robert Grove is found dead in his chambers--his servant, Sarah Blundy thought to have murdered him with poison. Sarah, the daughter of a rebel whose whereabouts are unknown, lives with her mother in poor circumstances, barely staying alive, yet they are visited during the mother's final days by important people. Four men tell the story of Grove's murder, and each explains his own connection, if any, with Sarah and her family. Marco da Cola, a physician from Venice, has come to London to check on his father's mercantile interests but responds to her pleas for help for her seriously injured mother. Jack Prestcott, the son of a man labeled a traitor, is trying to rehabilitate his father's reputation and regain his land. Dr. John Wallis, a mathematician, is also a cryptographer who has worked both for Cromwell and now King Charles II. And Anthony Wood, a young Oxford historian, has employed Sarah in his mother's house and recommended her to Dr. Grove. As each man tells his story plausibly, all using the same basic information, the complexity of the mystery increases, since the four men individually do not know all the facts, and the reader does not know which of these men can be considered reliable narrators. Pears develops these characters through fine period detail, depicting both the world in which Sarah Blundy and her mother have lived and the relationships and conflicts among the narrators. The period comes to life with all its harshness and betrayals, and as the reader tries to ascertain who it is who has killed Dr. Grove, the universal question of truth and how to find it becomes an overwhelming issue. A complex mystery, an intricate historical novel which reveals the tumult of the period, and a study of intriguing characters (some of whom, such as Wallis, Wood, and Boyle actually existed), the novel is challenging and stimulating. Ultimately it satisfies on all levels, a big book with big ideas and a big conclusion. Mary Whipple
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Simply Fantastic, 13 Oct 2005
Where to start?I suppose the most engaging aspect of this novel is the ability of Pear's characters to utterly and truly bring you in to who and what they are. I found myself understanding why they acted as they did, why they saw events in a certain light despite being contradicted by others and even developing a bias for them! The plot clicks nicely in to place with 'the instance of the fingerpost', Bacon's term for the true account. The revelation in the final part of the story touches, for me, the heart. It caused me to think when i read it and i still find myself thinking over what happened even now. From da Cola's concealment, through Prescott's madness, Wallis' darkness and eventually Wood's love, this novel is a tour de force of how it should be done - a mixture of knowledge, witty observations, humour and how love and hatred can create two entirely different opinions from a shared incident. Highly recommended.
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