The Man in the Red Coat
Inspired by a John Singer Sargent portrait, Barnes’ most recent book of non-fiction explores the life of Dr Samuel Pozzi, celebrity doctor and noted romantic, and the Belle Époque world where Pozzi operated.
This is no straightforward biography, however, and impatient readers will want to prepare themselves for a (fabulous) meandering, objectively unobjective journey through late 19th-century and early 20th-century Europe (with a particular focus on the UK and France). Barnes unfurls his story like a novel, even as he notes that biographies have strange twists and unresolved endings that would never be left in a novel. As such, there are many questions the reader is left to wrestle with – most noted by Barnes with wry apology – but the effect is charming rather than frustrating.
Despite the seemingly unconcerned nature of the book, it is a rich, well-researched resource for any reader wanting to understand more about late 19th-century France and the United Kingdom. It offers insight into the art and literature of the era and a gossipy who’s-who of major and minor figures of the time. And as a biography, it puts aside any pretense of authorial distance, and instead invites the reader to imagine, marvel, and guess along with Barnes.
