Michael Arditti – författare

''An engrossing, enthralling and utterly captivating read, The Young Pretender tells a simply remarkable story with bounce, energy, wit, and lively authenticity . . . Michael Arditti''s brilliant imaginative achievement offers high comedy, dark tragedy and everything between'' STEPHEN FRYMobbed by the masses, lionised by the aristocracy, courted by royalty and lusted after by patrons of both sexes, the child actor William Henry West Betty was one of the most famous people in Georgian Britain.At the age of thirteen, he played leading roles, including Romeo, Macbeth and Richard III, in theatres across the country. Prime Minister William Pitt adjourned the House of Commons so that its members could attend his debut as Hamlet at Covent Garden. Then, as rivals turned on him and scandal engulfed him, he suffered a fall as merciless as his rise had been meteoric.The Young Pretender takes place during Betty''s attempted comeback at the age of twenty-one. As he seeks to relaunch his career, he is forced to confront the painful truths behind his boyhood triumphs. Michael Arditti''s revelatory new novel puts this long forgotten figure back in the limelight. In addition to its rich and poignant portrait of Betty himself, it offers an engrossing insight into both the theatre and society of the age. The nature of celebrity, the power of publicity and the cult of youth are laid bare in a story that is more pertinent now than ever.''Michael Arditti is a writer who takes risks. His material is always compelling and provocative, his techniques sophisticated and oblique'' PATRICIA DUNCKER, Independent on Sunday ''Arditti is a master storyteller'' PETER STANFORD, Observer

A rich and powerful exploration of desire, sin and redemption, by one of our best chroniclers of faith in the 21st century."I enjoyed it enormously. The story is so interesting, the theme so important and pertinent, and the fluency and lightness of touch so engaging to read." PHILIP PULLMAN"A novel that probes any number of aggressive varieties of moralism, while testing the reader''s own moral alertness for rigour, realism and generosity. An engrossing, three-dimensional, grown-up narrative." ROWAN WILLIAMS"An irresistibly readable, thoughtful and characteristically witty examination of the quandaries and compromises faced by the Church of England in an era of decline . . . I loved this book for its lightness of touch about serious subjects and for dialogue that glitters like clashing rapiers." MIRANDA SEYMOURAs a woman in the early 1980s, Clarissa Phipps is unable to pursue her priestly vocation. Instead, she joins the BBC, where she is sent to interview the artist Seward Wemlock about the panels he is painting for an ancient Cheshire church."A serious and important writer" ROSE TREMAINThirty years on, now rector of that same church, she chances upon Brian, the chief bell-ringer and husband of her closest friend, fondling fifteen-year-old David. David claims they are in love, but Clarissa is obliged to act. Will she choose friendship or conscience, sympathy or her duty of care?The fallout from that choice forces her to reflect on past concerns over Wemlock''s relationship with his teenage models. Had she heeded the whispers at the time, how many lives - her own included - would have turned out differently?The Choice is a rich and powerful exploration of desire, sin and redemption, questioning whether it''s possible, let alone prudent, to separate the art from the artist, which reaches to the heart of the contemporary culture wars. Richly comic and deeply compassionate, it is a remarkable synthesis of the sacred and profane."At a time when British fiction has never been more timorous about tackling novels of ideas, Michael Arditti has produced one worthy of Iris Murdoch and Graham Greene. Brilliantly ambiguous, waspishly witty and thoroughly enjoyable, this is Michael Arditti''s own masterpiece to date" AMANDA CRAIG

A turbulent affair plays out in the pilgrim city of Lourdes''Carries you through with humour, warmth and, above all, the urgency of a great romance'' Guardian''Closing this novel after reading the last page, one briefly believes in miracles, at least of the human redemptive kind'' Independent on Sunday''Jubilate is something to celebrate indeed'' IndependentA woman wakes in a Lourdes hotel room beside her lover of just two days. She has brought her brain-damaged husband on a pilgrimage to seek a miracle cure; her lover is making a TV documentary to mark the shrine''s 150th anniversary year. Setting aside personal doubts, family ties and spiritual differences, they embark on a turbulent affair from which neither they nor those around them will emerge unchanged.

Philip Seward travels to the Philippines to investigate the case of a missionary priest imprisoned for murder, where he is drawn into a labyrinth of vice, violence, and corruption where nothing and nobody are what they seem.''Part Conrad, part Waugh, part Greene, and pure genius'' Independent on Sunday''This is Arditti''s most dazzling novel to date because of the scale of his ambition and his triumph in pulling it off'' Peter Stanford, Daily TelegraphWhile working as a missionary priest in the Philippines during the Marcos dictatorship, Julian Tremayne championed the Communist rebels and found himself imprisoned for murder. Now, three decades later, following Julian''s death, a cult develops around him, even calling for sainthood. When Philip Seward goes to investigate on behalf of Julian''s family, he is drawn into a labyrinth of vice, violence, and corruption where nothing and nobody are what they seem. Enriched by a gallery of engaging characters ranging from priests to prostitutes, GIs to gangsters, and street children to Imelda Marcos, this outstanding novel is at once a gripping psychological thriller, a challenging moral mystery, and an unforgettable voyage into a dark and exotic landscape.

''Arditti is a master storyteller who uses his theological literacy sparingly to deliver a challenging but enthralling read'' GuardianAward-winning, bestselling author Michael Arditti''s tenth novel, documenting the history of homophobia and religion.God''s vengeance on the wicked city of Sodom is a perennial source of fascination and horror. Michael Arditti''s passionate and enthralling new novel explores the enduring power of the myth in five momentous epochs.A young Judean exile transcribes the Acts of Abraham and Lot in ancient Babylon; the Guild of Salters presents a mystery play of Lot''s Wife in medieval York; Botticelli paints the Destruction of Sodom for a court in Renaissance Florence; a bereaved rector searches for the Cities of the Plain in nineteenth century Palestine; a closeted gay movie star portrays Lot in a controversial biblical epic in 1980s Hollywood. With its interrelated narratives and interwoven documents, Of Men and Angels is both formally inventive and imaginatively rich. Abounding in characters as vivid as they are varied, from temple prostitutes and palace eunuchs, through fanatical friars and humanist poets, to Bedouin tribesmen, Russian exiles and, of course, angels, this is a novel of breathtaking scope, penetrating insight and profound human sympathy.

A masterful and subsersive retelling of the Biblical story of David and Bathsheba, by an award-winning novelist at the height of his powers''[A] fierce, sinewy novel'' Howard Jacobsen''A wonderfully rich novel. Arditti brings Ancient Israel to life'' Allan Massie, ScotsmanMichal is a princess, Abigail a wealthy widow, and Bathsheba a soldier''s bride, but as women in Ancient Israel their destiny is the same: to obey their fathers, serve their husbands and raise their children. Marriage to King David seems to offer them an escape, but behind the trappings of power they discover a deeply conflicted man. The legendary hero who slew Goliath, founded Jerusalem and saved Israel is also a vicious despot who murders his rivals, massacres his captives and menaces his harem. Michael Arditti''s masterly new novel centres on three fascinating, formidable women, whose voices have hitherto been silenced. As they tell of love and betrayal, rape and revenge, motherhood and childlessness, they not only present the time-honoured story in a compelling new light but expose a conflict between male ruthlessness and female resistance, which remains strikingly pertinent today.