FLAUBERT'S PARROT

Which of two stuffed parrots was the inspiration for one of Flaubert`s greatest stories? Why did the master keep changing the colour of Emma Bovary`s eyes? And why should it matter so much to Geoffrey Braithwaite, a retired doctor haunted by a private secret? In Flaubert`s Parrot, Julian Barnes spins out a multiple mystery of obsession and betrayal (both scholarly and romantic) and creates an exuberant enquiry into the ways in which art mirrors life and then turns around to shape it.

`A gem: an unashamed literary novel that is also unashamed to be readable, and broadly entertaining. Bravo!` John Irving

`Endless food for thought, beautifully written... A tour de force` Germaine Greer

`Delightful and enriching... A book to read` Joseph Heller

`A dazzling achievement... remarkably inventive as well as audacious` Walter Abish

`A delight... Handsomely the best novel published in England in 1984` John Fowles