It follows the life of the eponymous protagonist, using both first and third person voices, whilst employing a variety of literary techniques such as multiple narratives and flashback.

"[2] Dan Martin is a playwright and Hollywood screenwriter who returns to his native England when a friend from his time at university asks to see him before he dies.

"[4] In exploring the relationships between the main characters, Fowles takes the chance to expand upon such topics as aesthetics, philosophy of cinema, archaeology, imperialism and the differences between Britain and the United States.

Robert McCrum states "It was the American literary press that saluted Daniel Martin; the English critics who murdered it.

"[5] Writing in The New York Times William H. Pritchard opined "This new, long, ambitious novel must be judged [Fowles's] best piece of work to date and is a masterly fictional creation, dense with fact.