"The Real Sir Arthur Conan Doyle" by Andrew Norman is a book that I approached with a particular set of expectations, anticipating a deep dive into the more mystical and metaphysical aspects of Doyle's life. However, this book takes a different path, focusing more on Doyle's literary works and career, providing a detailed biography rather than exploring his personal beliefs and involvement in spiritualism in depth.

From the perspective of a reader seeking insight into Doyle's fascination with spiritualism and the paranormal, the book may come across as somewhat dry and not as engaging as hoped. This shift in focus from the esoteric elements of Doyle's life to a more conventional biographical account might disappoint those interested in the unique and eccentric aspects of his personality.

On the other hand, for readers interested in a straightforward biographical account of Doyle's life and literary accomplishments, this book does offer valuable insights. It provides a comprehensive look at his career, including his success as the creator of Sherlock Holmes and his role as a writer of historical novels, among other achievements.

In summary, while "The Real Sir Arthur Conan Doyle" offers a thorough biography of one of the greatest writers of all time, it may not entirely satisfy those looking for an exploration of the more unconventional and mystical aspects of Doyle's life. It's a well-researched and detailed account, but perhaps not the best choice for readers primarily interested in Doyle's spiritualist pursuits and metaphysical beliefs.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher, provided through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

It's a very interesting book on life of the creator of Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle. In this biography a reader can find unpublished so far letters, literary criticism and plenty of fascinating facts. The book is well-researched and well-written. A must for lovers of English literature.

An enjoyable read covering the creator of Sherlock Holmes and his life.Thoroughly researched and some interesting facts about sir Arthur Conan Doyle I would recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Thank you for allowing me to read this advanced reader's copy of this book! I have always loved reading anything and everything about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, or his novels about Sherlock Holmes. This novel really grasps the depth of his life and the genius writings of this beloved writer. Highly recommend!

It has always been something of a mystery how someone as intelligent and accomplished as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ended his days being duped by a couple of Yorkshire schoolgirls into believing a number of clearly bogus pictures of fairies were real. By any measure, Conan Doyle was a very talented and successful man: a prolific author of fiction and non-fiction, a legal advocate, a qualified doctor, a political campaigner who played both football and cricket professionally and who also boxed, played golf and billiards very well. His towering achievement was, of course, the creation of great fictional Baker Street supersleuth, Sherlock Holmes. Although he was embarrassed by the levels of success this character achieved (Conan Doyle soon found he could come with the stories fairly easily), he can now justifiably described as the father of all modern detective fiction. Holmes's famous rule of thumb was always, "once you have eliminated the impossible then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the answer." although he added, " I, however, do not like to eliminate the impossible." Sadly, in later life, an increasingly superstitious Conan Doyle grew increasingly reluctant to eliminate the impossible too.
This short biography helps to explain why.

Even if I found some parts quite informative and interesting I was a bit put off by the literary criticism.
Not my cup of tea
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, best known as the creator of the perennially admired detective Sherlock Holmes, was a complex man. Originally trained as a doctor, he gained fame as an author & yet professed a dislike for the popularity of his most loved character. This book looks at his life, his wide-ranging interests including spiritualism, & his involvement in real life criminal cases where he considered miscarriages of justice had taken place.

Conan Doyle was a curious mix of old & new world attitudes: for example, he was for the reforming of divorce laws which were heavily biased against women, yet he was against women's suffrage which earned him the condemnation of the suffragettes. He was a passionate advocate for those he believed had been wrongly condemned by the courts such as the man jailed for the murder of Miss Marion Gilchrist, pointing out logical flaws in the evidence, & yet strongly believed in spiritualism & was infamously fooled by the Cottingley fairies hoax.

This book shows Conan Doyle 'warts & all' (although the author acknowledges that there are many of Conan Doyle's letters in private collections unavailable to researchers which could provide new insights in the future) & it was a well-written, informative & interesting read. In many ways he was ahead of his time in attitudes, yet in many others he was still firmly a man of his time. I would have liked a little more exploration of his role in the Cottingley fairies hoax as it was briefly mentioned but not really analysed as to why he should fall for something which is so obviously false. 3.5 stars (rounded up)

TWs: late Victorian/early modern attitudes towards race, sex, & gay men.

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Pen & Sword/White Owl, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

I was looking forward to this book, but unfortunately, I wasn't able to get through it. The organization seemed chaotic to me. It moves back and forth between biography and literary criticism. I've read all the Sherlock Holmes books, and I'm not interested in a biography containing descriptions and excerpts of them. They honestly didn't seem connected to the biographical material at all. Was Doyle's life so poorly documented and uninteresting that the biography had to be supplemented by material from his fiction? This book was not what I expected at all. DNF at 40%.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

It is fascinating to think of Conan Doyle creating such a logical, reasoning character as Sherlock Holmes while also being almost obsessed with seances, mediums and spiritualists. This book does a thorough job of exploring such facets of the man while also reflecting on his family history and upbringing. Really interesting and well written.