Iain Pears

Iain Pears: Writing Style

Iain Pears's writing style is notably characterized by experimentation with narration and narrative structure.

Pears uses interesting perspectives and narration techniques to unveil his plotlines in a psychologically complex, intriguing manner. For example, in An Instance of the Fingerpost, Pears uses four different narrators who all tell their versions of the same events. Readers are left guessing who and what to believe and are forced to make character judgments to obtain the truth.

In The Dream of Scipio, three stories of men from vastly different centuries are tied together by a text that one of the men writes and the others later discover. Pears frequently uses quotes and references to texts to lend continuity and tie together themes of stories that would otherwise be disparate.

Pears’s 2009 novel Stone’s Fall is told in three parts in reverse chronology. His most recent book Arcadia comes with an accompanying app that enables readers to switch between multiple narratives and perspectives.

Iain Pears: Literary Works

Since 1990, Iain Pears has published 12 fictional literary works. His books are listed below in order of the dates of publication:

1. 1990: The Raphael Affair (Jonathan Argyll series)
2. 1991: The Titian Committee (Jonathan Argyll series)
3. 1992: The Bernini Bust (Jonathan Argyll series)
4. 1993: The Last Judgement (Jonathan Argyll series)
5. 1994: Giotto's Hand
6. 1996: Death and Restoration (Jonathan Argyll series)
7. 1997: An Instance of the Fingerpost
8. 2000: The Immaculate Deception (Jonathan Argyll series)
9. 2002: The Dream of Scipio
10. 2004: The Portrait
11. 2009: Stone's Fall
12. 2015: Arcadia

Below is an in-depth look at three of Iain Pears's most notable novels, An Instance of the Fingerpost, The Dream of Scipio, and The Portrait.

An Instance of the Fingerpost

An Instance of the Fingerpost is a historical thriller and mystery set in the 1660s in Oxford, England. It is the time just after the English Civil War (1642-1651), and conflicts arise around the restoration of the monarchy. During this time, questions of politics, science, religion, and philosophy create both turmoil and progress.

In Pears's novel, a young woman is accused of murdering Dr. Robert Grove, and four eclectic witnesses write about the circumstances surrounding Grove's death. The four witnesses, Marco da Cola, Jack Prescott, John Wallis, and Anthony Wood, are questionable narrators with varying relations to the crown and state. While all four witnesses have captivating testimonies, only one reveals the truth.

The Dream of Scipio

The Dream of Scipio is set in Provence, France but spans from the 5th to the 20th century telling tales of three men, each living at a critical historical moment in Western Civilization. Manlius Hippomanes is a wealthy man living during the 5th-century fall of the Roman Empire, who makes it his focus to preserve Roman civilization. Olivier de Noyen is a 14th-century poet and intellectual living during the time of the rampant spread of the Bubonic Plague. Julien Barneuve is also an intellectual, but he lives during World War II and supports the Vichy government.

Though the various men and historical periods have very different stories, their narratives are linked by the text, The Dream of Scipio, which is written by Manlius Hippomanes and is later discovered by the other two men. The text explores how politics influence religious discrimination and religious tolerance, a common theme throughout the novel.

The Portrait

The Portrait is a dark, suspenseful tale that unfolds to reveal secrets of betrayal, forbidden love, and murder. The protagonist Henry MacAlpine is a highly successful artist in London who abruptly decides to move to the windy, remote Island of Houat off the coast of Brittany, France. When MacAlpine receives his first visitor on the island after four years of living alone, the truth about why he moved beings unraveling. This visitor is a well-known art critic named William Naysmith, who sits for a portrait and ends up having much more revealed than his likeness.

Fig. 3 - Pears builds suspense and intrigue in The Portrait as a successful London artist moves to a windy, isolated island, and readers gradually discover why.

Iain Pears: Themes

Iain Pears’s books explore the themes of art, beauty, religion, politics, and the resounding significance of history.

Art and Beauty

Pears wrote an entire series of books about art history mysteries. Art, the artistic process, and the idea and value of beauty are common themes throughout his works. Pears explores how and why beauty and art are so coveted and what they can reveal about human nature. In his novel The Portrait, the main character is a successful artist who flees to a remote island. When he sits to paint a portrait of his mysterious art critic guest, he finds that he cannot capture the man’s true disposition. Pears’s novels reveal how art strives to reflect life, and it's created to shed light on it.

Religion and Politics

Ian Pears’s novels frequently tie in themes of religion in an unlikely way. For example, in An Instance of the Fingerpost, a complex mystery unravels to reveal that a woman is a reincarnation of Jesus Christ. Several of Pears’s characters are clergymen, Catholics, politicians, and influential people linked to the Church and the Papacy.

An Instance of the Fingerpost and The Dream of Scipio explore the themes of religious power, discrimination, and how the two mingle with politics — especially in the past when there were numerous clashes between Church and state. Many of Pears’s characters wield political power or are deeply entrenched in or affected by the politics of power in their surroundings. Pears suggests that religion and politics greatly shape the course of history.

The Effects of History

All of Iain Pears’s books draw upon the histories of the time periods in which they take place. His characters, details, and plot lines draw upon real people and events. However, Pears does not write to portray history in a realistic, straightforward way but rather to unveil how the history of politics, religion, science, art, and philosophy influences an individual’s outlook, thoughts, and life.

Pears’s characters are often a reflection of their time periods, but not in a way that is static or banal. Rather, he delves into the psychological complexities and eccentricities of characters in response to their histories and the circumstances of their times.

Iain Pears: Quotes

In this quote, Pears explores the idea of deceptive beauty through the lens of religion. Pears’s writing contains many philosophical statements. He implies that even the ugliest and most evil things, such as the devil, can be disguised as something good and beautiful:

Though Iain Pears was highly educated and received a Doctorate in Philosophy from Oxford University, his writing acknowledges how information can overwhelm the mind. Many of his characters are intellectuals and philosophers who reflect the ideals and histories of their times:

Iain Pears’s writings span centuries of history. However, his understanding of history can be understood as a chain of events rather than distinctive periods. Pears shows that there is not one singular point of influence and blame for the events that occur. Rather, each little action plays into the future and the future is intertwined with the past: