About the Author:
Michael Arditti is the prize-winning author of eight works of fiction, including Easter, which won the Mardi Gras & Waterstone s Award, was shortlisted for the Creative Freedom Award and which was longlisted for the Costa, selling over 25,000 copies. The Breath of Night was published to enormous critical acclaim in 2013. He reviews for several newspapers and appears regularly on BBC Radio 4.
Review:
Arditti's fictional Francombe is a familiar seaside town and a brilliantly revealing microcosm of a society where greed and power are embraced - Widows and Orphans is powerfully realistic. Arditti has written an uncomfortable but very readable novel about the careless greeds of the way we live now.' (Helen Dunmore, Guardian)
'One of the many pleasures of this novel is the range and depth of the author's sympathies. Moreover, Arditti has a fine eye for the significant detail and the novel is beautifully constructed - It is funny and moving and deeply tender.' (Allan Massie, Scotsman)
'For all the sparky one-liners, the crisp satire on small-town preoccupations and the increasingly hilarious newspaper columns prefacing each chapter, this is a profound and unsettling book - Like a Graham Greene for our time, Arditti has written an exquisite novel which traces the challenging journey of the human heart towards the grace of acceptance.' (Lucy Beresford, Spectator)
'Arditti has a mischievous take on small town politics, and the characters are brilliant. Benign satire, with a bite.' (Kate Saunders, The Times)
'There are splendidly comic scenes worthy of Alan Ayckbourn. While the deeply moving last chapter is like the final movement of a string quartet, weaving together the various themes. Arditti's strength in creating an entire community, full of rich and contrasting characters has resulted in a satisfying book, full of insight, pain, compassion and humour. I cannot recommend it highly enough.' (James Roose-Evans, Ham and High)
'A plot concerning the fate of the historic local pier provides an entertaining narrative motor, while Arditti's wit and typically breezy style keep the pages turning effortlessly.' (Stephanie Cross, The Lady)
'At a time when 'good' can so often be synonymous with uninteresting and bland, Arditti has constructed a complex, witty and thoughtful portrait of an innately decent man and the messy modern world he lives in.' (Amber Pearson, Daily Mail)
'Enjoyable and diverting, Arditti's prose is engaging and his material is studiously observed, particularly in the passages about the declining fortunes of Duncan's beloved paper. Moving and astute, it's a novel for anyone who has ever flicked through the paper and failed to recognise the country they're reading about.' (Jennifer Lipman, Jewish Chronicle)
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