Books › An Instance of the Fingerpost
An Instance of the Fingerpost
First published 1997 · 947 pages
A labyrinthine, multi-layered puzzle box of a novel where truth is a matter of perspective and everyone is lying.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like wandering through the shadowy, cobblestone alleys of a seventeenth-century university town, where every overheard conversation is a half-truth and every shadow hides a conspiracy. It is a deeply cerebral and atmospheric experience, demanding your full attention as it layers deception upon deception. The narrative shifts beneath your feet, forcing you to constantly re-evaluate who to trust as the four distinct voices weave their conflicting accounts. The prose is dense and period-authentic, wrapping you in a murky world of political paranoia, early scientific inquiry, and religious fervor. It is a feast for the patient, intellectual reader who delights in untangling complex, unreliable narratives and savoring the slow, satisfying click of a meticulously constructed puzzle box.
- Mood
- shadowy
- claustrophobic
- conspiratorial
- murky
- Tone
- erudite
- cynical
- unreliable
- intellectual
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- subjectivity of truth · clash of faith and reason · political paranoia · unreliability of memory
- The writing
- Dense, period-authentic, and meticulously crafted to reflect the distinct, often deceptive voices of its four narrators.
- The arc
- Begins with intellectual curiosity and descends into a labyrinth of paranoia before culminating in a profound, paradigm-shifting revelation.
- Who it's for
- Readers who love getting lost in meticulously researched historical mysteries and untangling the lies of highly unreliable narrators.
Content notes
- murder
- torture
- execution
- religious persecution
- medical gore
About the book
This book is set in the 1660's, and tells the story of Sarah Blundy who is accused of murder. The story is told from four different perspectives, and as you read each one you learn so much more about the events, and there is a huge plot twist at the end!
Description from Open Library.
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