The Biographer's Tale, by A.S. Byatt

[MN]

I read this for 2019 topic 3: A book where the author's name contains A, T, Y. Here's the GR synopsis:
Phineas G. Nanson, a disillusioned post-graduate student, decides to leave his abstract studies and pursue a seemingly concrete task: to write a biography of a great biographer. But Phineas quickly discovers that facts can be unreliable and a “whole life” hard to define. As he tracks his subject from Africa to the Arctic, he comes to rely on two women–one of whom may be the guide he needs out of his research and back into his own life. A tantalizing yarn of detection and desire, The Biographer’s Tale is a provocative look at “truth” in biography and our perennial quest for certainty.

As with many of Byatt's novels, this seemed a little daunting to begin with, not least because of the initial post-post-structuralist theme, but I quickly became absorbed and loved its complexity and intelligent humour.