Elizabeth Finch By Julian Barnes

‘Elizabeth Finch’ is the latest book by Julian Barnes.

Elizabeth Finch was a teacher, a thinker, an inspiration. Neil is just one of many who fell under her spell during his time in her class. Tasked with unpacking her notebooks after her death, Neil encounters once again Elizabeth’s astonishing ideas on the past and on how to make sense of the present. But Elizabeth was much more than a scholar. Her secrets are waiting to be revealed . . . and will change Neil’s view of the world forever.

At 192 pages, this book can easily be consumed in one sitting. The story is seen through solely through Neil, who’s fallen under the spell of his university teacher, Elizabeth Finch. A charismatic and fascinating woman who bewitches her students with her knowledge and mystery. After her death, she leaves Neil her notebooks and learns more of this mysterious woman and her ways.

This book had the potential to really grab my attention, but sadly I found it a bit lacking. I found Neil’s fascination about Elizabeth both overwhelming and underwhelming at the same time. Julian has a lovely style of writing, beautifully descriptive and vivid in parts, and some of Elizabeth’s notebook entries are intriguing, but I found Neil lacklustre and as the main character in the story, it failed to hook me in.

‘Elizabeth Finch’ had all the makings of a great story but regrettably wasn’t for me.

You can buy ‘Elizabeth Finch’ from Amazon and is available to buy from good bookshops.