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Widows & Orphans
The Francombe & Salter Mercury is a regional newspaper that has served the residents of two South Coast resorts for over 150 years. Hit by both the economic decline and the advent of new technology, Duncan Neville, the latest member of his family to occupy the editor's chair, is struggling to keep the paper afloat. Duncan's personal life is in similar disarray as he juggles the demands of his elderly mother, disaffected son, harassed ex-wife and devoted secretary. Meanwhile, a childhood friend turned bitter rival unveils plans to rebuild the dilapidated pier, which, while promising to revive the town's fortunes, threaten its traditional ethos. Then Duncan meets Ellen, a recent divorcee, who has moved to Francombe with her two teenage children. Romance blossoms.
- GenresFiction
360 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 9, 2015
5 people are currently reading
43 people want to read
About the author
Michael Arditti
24 books17 followersMichael Arditti FRSL is an English writer. He has written twelve novels, including Easter, The Enemy of the Good, Jubilate and The Breath of Night, and also a collection of short stories, Good Clean Fun. His most recent novel, The Anointed, was published in April 2020. He is a prolific literary critic and an occasional broadcaster for the BBC. Much of his work explores issues of spirituality and sexuality. He has been described by Philip Pullman as "our best chronicler of the rewards and pitfalls of present-day faith".
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
May 1, 2015
Unfulfilled promise...
Duncan Neville is the owner and editor of the Francombe & Salter Mecury, a regional newspaper that has been in his family for generations but is now struggling to survive in the era of online news. Francombe is a (fictional) English seaside resort, popular in its Victorian heyday but with its glory days well behind it. Duncan has been campaigning to have the old Victorian pier renovated, but now it has been bought over by a property developer who plans to turn it into an adults only zone based on the sleazier side of life. Duncan's personal life is as decayed as the town – his marriage broken, his relationship with his teenage son difficult, and his mother and sister expecting to continue to live well off the income from the family business, while Duncan himself is reduced to living in the flat above the newspaper offices. However, things begin to look up when he meets the lovely Ellen...
At first, I thought I was really going to enjoy this book. It starts off well, with an introduction to the remaining small staff of the newspaper and a good depiction of the run-down state of the resort. Duncan is portrayed as an upholder of tradition trying, Canute-like, to hold back the tides of change. The prose is gentle and flowing and interspersed with some nice observational humour.
However, I'm afraid this early positive impression soon wore off. What at first seems gentle soon turns into dull, and the nostalgic tone of the book veers uncomfortably close to sentimentality. Even the humour begins to feel as if it has been inserted artificially, rather than arising from the natural flow. In the beginning it feels as if Duncan is going to be a campaigner, fighting for the things he believes in, but as the book goes on, he turns out to be just a rather overwhelmed middle-aged man, not very good at relationships or business...or anything, really. His attitudes seem blinkered and far too old-fashioned for a man of his age, and frankly, he whinges. His 'leader articles' from the paper are inserted between the chapters of the book. I assume these are meant to give an insight into Duncan's character and his mildly left-wing principles, but they feel like a device for the author to make his own political points rather than having much to do with the thrust of the story.
The story itself (I deliberately haven't used the word plot) meanders slowly on in a downward spiral, touching too lightly on some serious subjects – anti-immigrant feelings, homophobia, porn etc. I suspect the correct response of the reader is to shake her head, click her tongue and sigh over the iniquities of modern life. This reader, however, found that she was sighing over the superficiality of the book. The premise is interesting and so much could have been done with it to take a look at some of the real problems faced by people living in towns whose historical function has gone, but I feel the opportunity was missed. Instead, we get a kind of mini middle-class family saga, with Duncan's curiously emotionless relationships taking centre stage, and all leading up to an ending so sickly sweet one questions if even Dickens would have dared do it.
Overall, not a bad book – the writing is fine and some of the points it raises are interesting. But the execution doesn't live up to the promise and in the end I was left disappointed and rather relieved that it was over.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Arcadia Books Ltd.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
Duncan Neville is the owner and editor of the Francombe & Salter Mecury, a regional newspaper that has been in his family for generations but is now struggling to survive in the era of online news. Francombe is a (fictional) English seaside resort, popular in its Victorian heyday but with its glory days well behind it. Duncan has been campaigning to have the old Victorian pier renovated, but now it has been bought over by a property developer who plans to turn it into an adults only zone based on the sleazier side of life. Duncan's personal life is as decayed as the town – his marriage broken, his relationship with his teenage son difficult, and his mother and sister expecting to continue to live well off the income from the family business, while Duncan himself is reduced to living in the flat above the newspaper offices. However, things begin to look up when he meets the lovely Ellen...
At first, I thought I was really going to enjoy this book. It starts off well, with an introduction to the remaining small staff of the newspaper and a good depiction of the run-down state of the resort. Duncan is portrayed as an upholder of tradition trying, Canute-like, to hold back the tides of change. The prose is gentle and flowing and interspersed with some nice observational humour.
However, I'm afraid this early positive impression soon wore off. What at first seems gentle soon turns into dull, and the nostalgic tone of the book veers uncomfortably close to sentimentality. Even the humour begins to feel as if it has been inserted artificially, rather than arising from the natural flow. In the beginning it feels as if Duncan is going to be a campaigner, fighting for the things he believes in, but as the book goes on, he turns out to be just a rather overwhelmed middle-aged man, not very good at relationships or business...or anything, really. His attitudes seem blinkered and far too old-fashioned for a man of his age, and frankly, he whinges. His 'leader articles' from the paper are inserted between the chapters of the book. I assume these are meant to give an insight into Duncan's character and his mildly left-wing principles, but they feel like a device for the author to make his own political points rather than having much to do with the thrust of the story.
The story itself (I deliberately haven't used the word plot) meanders slowly on in a downward spiral, touching too lightly on some serious subjects – anti-immigrant feelings, homophobia, porn etc. I suspect the correct response of the reader is to shake her head, click her tongue and sigh over the iniquities of modern life. This reader, however, found that she was sighing over the superficiality of the book. The premise is interesting and so much could have been done with it to take a look at some of the real problems faced by people living in towns whose historical function has gone, but I feel the opportunity was missed. Instead, we get a kind of mini middle-class family saga, with Duncan's curiously emotionless relationships taking centre stage, and all leading up to an ending so sickly sweet one questions if even Dickens would have dared do it.
Overall, not a bad book – the writing is fine and some of the points it raises are interesting. But the execution doesn't live up to the promise and in the end I was left disappointed and rather relieved that it was over.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Arcadia Books Ltd.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
July 5, 2015
Wonderful writer, compelling observations
Finished reading: Widows & Orphans / Michael Arditti – 01-07-2015
ISBN 9781910050231
I loved this book!
Duncan Neville is the proprietor/editor of the local paper in an English seaside town that has seen much better days. The paper has been passed from father to son for over 150 years and now Duncan is overseeing its death throes. At the same time, his personal life has more dramas than you could reasonably expect in one extended family over a lifetime, let alone the six months time span of the novel.
The writing is wonderful. Arditti brings people, places and events to life without one word too many. If you listed all the dramas it would seem quite improbable but they are woven together so neatly that it is like a perfectly fitting jigsaw that produces a more than satisfying overall picture.
Neville's “old fashioned values” are carefully contrasted with the “me-too-ism” attitudes of today without ever becoming preachy. It's not a happy-ever-after book yet enough problems are resolved well enough to inspire hope that the future will be OK.
I can't recommend this book enough. I'm so glad I found it. I hadn't heard of Arditti before but I'll definitely read more of his work.
The library bought this book following a request from me.
May 14, 2017
This was an impulse selection at the library because I liked the cover and the first sentence read well. I was pleasantly surprised to be gradually drawn in to the story and character of the protagonist. Normally I don't go for Relationships books, but this is an exception. Possibly because it's a male author and the story centres around a male character.
January 15, 2019
A bit of a slow start and I was tempted to give up, but gradually I was drawn in and really enjoyed it.
September 19, 2019
Finished reading after about 4 chapters, at that stage was a non-story going nowhere. Did not enjoy
January 12, 2017
Full disclosure, I have not managed to finish this book. I have been trying to read it for 10 months now, that is how boring it is.
January 12, 2024
In Widows and Orphans the plot seemed unneccessarily drawn out. I didn't make it to the end.
June 1, 2015
Widows & Orphans is a wonderful, subtle look at relationships, full of flawed but very recognizable characters. You really want the main, if flawed, protagonist Duncan, proprietor of the ailing Mercury, to find happiness with Ellen. His mother Adele and her gay carer Chris, his son Jamie, Ellen’s son Neil, and his ex, Linda, all drawn from life, and represent parts of contemporary society. Many social concerns, the state of schools, youths running wild, and others are cleverly woven into the story. Setting the novel against the backdrop of a struggling local newspaper, (the office banter is captured very well, as are its hilarious editorials) Mercury, in a seedy seaside resort makes it really a book of this time, as well as a very enjoyable read.
November 8, 2015
It's very competent, but somehow it fails to engage. It may be that the big themes that are introduced are quickly dealt wit our left hanging. It may be that it feels that it should become a farce or at least something like Philip Hencher's King of the Badgers, but it keeps a resolutely straight face. There is nothing wrong with the book, it's a bit dull.
May 30, 2016
3.5 stars.
A charming and confidently handled tale of provincial life in a seaside town focusing on the crumbling family and commercial life of the proprietor of a failing local newspaper.
It doesn't set the world alight and may not stick in my mind for too long, but it was highly readable and full of humanity.
A charming and confidently handled tale of provincial life in a seaside town focusing on the crumbling family and commercial life of the proprietor of a failing local newspaper.
It doesn't set the world alight and may not stick in my mind for too long, but it was highly readable and full of humanity.
November 1, 2015
Well worth a read
Have read most of his novels. This one is bit less focussed on homosexuality than some of the others, and the pace a bit slower. But the observation of families and relationships which don't run smoothly is entertaining and true.
Have read most of his novels. This one is bit less focussed on homosexuality than some of the others, and the pace a bit slower. But the observation of families and relationships which don't run smoothly is entertaining and true.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews