Julian Barnes, the celebrated British author, has confirmed that his latest work, Departure(s), will be his final book. This announcement marks the end of a distinguished writing career spanning 45 years, during which he produced an acclaimed body of work including novels, essays, memoirs, and biographies.
A Hybrid Finale Blending Fact and Fiction
Departure(s) is described as a characteristically slippery affair, merging memoir with fiction. Barnes reflects on themes of failed love, the process of ageing, and the contemplation of life's end. The narrative daringly blends autobiography with invented elements, even challenging readers to verify certain personal details.
The book revisits characters from his earlier novels, Talking It Over and Love, Etc, and continues the exploration of memory and history seen in The Sense of an Ending and The Only Story. It centres on a complex love triangle between the narrator, a woman named Jean, and a man called Stephen, a relationship he orchestrated twice across decades only to witness its repeated failure.
The Personal Within the Professional
Interspersed with this fictional narrative is starkly personal material. Barnes reveals his diagnosis with an incurable but manageable blood cancer at the start of the Covid-19 lockdown. He recounts this with his trademark bathetic humour, noting it freed him from an Abba-themed wedding but offered few other consolations.
His writing persona—rational, romantic, and rueful—remains in full control, examining the grandiose within the mundane. He muses on the irony of preparing for hospital with chocolate and a crossword, while forgetting an essay on the bleak French writer J.K. Huysmans.
Why Stop Now?
Barnes clarifies that his decision to stop writing is not directly due to his health prognosis. He suggests, partly, a desire not to die mid-book, like the novelist Brian Moore. More tellingly, he expresses a weariness with the sheer labour of creation: "Actually, just writing this makes me feel a bit weary."
The book is filled with what might be termed 'Easter eggs'—references and winks to his prior works across genres. In its final moments, Barnes addresses his readers directly, stating he will miss them, offering a poignant and personal farewell.
Departure(s) by Julian Barnes is published by Jonathan Cape priced at £18.99.
