Susie Steiner writes: There was a bit of a wind up around Julian Barnes - not a literary storm, but strong gusts that buffeted his tent, and made the event a bit like listening to a reading on a ship in a force-10 gale. Nevertheless, a rapt audience, which included Zadie Smith and husband Nick Laird in row three, listened to Barnes read extracts from his new novel Arthur & George.
The Arthur of the novel, which is published on July 7, is Arthur Conan Doyle and the novel concerns his coming to the rescue in a late 19th century miscarriage of justice that has echoes of Emile Zola's involvement in the Dreyfus case.
"I found myself using a word that I normally avoid like the plague," said Barnes. "I was talking to a friend who said, 'how is it going?' and I said, 'It's going well because I know what it's about'. She said, 'you never say that'. I never use the word 'about' because I always think novels are 'around' things rather than about things. But this one fell into place in a way others haven't. The parallels were clear to me."
When it came to questions, there was the usual early British reserve among the audience, until an American broke the silence. When you talked about your characters, she said, your eyes just lit up, and I wondered if you feel close to them and have any favourites.
"I think what you saw was the light of anxiety," said Barnes dryly.
Susie Steiner
