Which of two stuffed parrots was the inspiration for one of Flauberts greatest stories? Why did the master keep changing the colour of Emma Bovarys eyes? And why should it matter so much to Geoffrey Braithwaite, a retired doctor haunted by a private secret? In Flauberts Parrot, Julian Barnes spins out a multiple mystery of obsession and betrayal (both scholarly and ro Which of two stuffed parrots was the inspiration for one of Flauberts greatest stories? Why did the master keep changing the colour of Emma Bovarys eyes? And why should it matter so much to Geoffrey Braithwaite, a retired doctor haunted by a private secret? In Flauberts 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.