'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 *
'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 *
'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 *
'Arditti's gently satirical novel is a moral tale of lost causes in a changing world, with old causes and caring communities under threat.'
-- Phil Baker * Sunday Times *
'A charming paean to a lost and vanished England.'
* Catholic Herald *
'No one is missed by Arditti's crystal-clear eye. Widows and Orphans is at its heart, a compelling portrait of life in 21st century Britain for the everyman - While Duncan Neville struggles to keep his newspaper afloat, Arditti has no such trouble with the novel. The pages turn themselves.'
-- Eleanor Doughty * Standpoint *
'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 *
