Of Men and Angels: Reviews

‘Erudite, humane and profound, Of Men and Angels deals with unapologetically weighty issues but nevertheless has a page-turning quality that, through its empathetic characterisation, gentle humour and richly imaginative storytelling, draws the reader in. It is literary fiction of the very best kind.’
Yvette Huddleston, Yorkshire Post

‘Arditti’s books demand investment on the part of the reader, but boy does he reward you for this with his brilliance, brain-power and boundless amounts of imagination. It’s superb.’
Uli Lenart, Attitude

‘Arditti’s fiction makes us realise that whoever we are, all of us long for only one thing, and that is salvation. Moreover, Arditti is a novelist of such skill that he makes salvation not just credible but desirable.’
Alexander Lucie-Smith, Catholic Herald

‘A magnificent epic spanning centuries and continents. Each historical era is so richly observed, down to the smallest detail.’
Massimo Gava, Dante

‘The city of Sodom and its infamous wickedness is the focus of Michael Arditti’s epic novel, which excels in its lively and intimate portrait of lives separated by millennia. Throughout, Arditti’s characters lust and yearn, spar and pun their way vividly off the page… Arditti unfailingly animates his extensive research with humanity and wit.’
Stephanie Cross, Daily Mail

‘Of Men and Angels is his longest and most ambitious work of fiction yet… Arditti is a master storyteller who uses his theological literacy sparingly to deliver a challenging but enthralling read.’
Peter Stanford, The Observer

‘Michael Arditti is an accomplished and fluent writer, with the sensibility of a philosophical mandarin.  In his new novel, education and research combine with well-honed narrative skills to produce an epic excursion through millennia of Judaeo-Christian and Islamic history.’
Stoddard Martin, Jewish Chronicle

‘Of Men and Angels is ‘meticulously researched, richly inventive and hugely ambitious in scope.’
Sarah Meyrick, Church Times

‘The Florentine section shows Arditti at his best: religious tensions find a theatre of war in Botticelli’s art, his inner struggles set against a tumultuous historical background rendered with great expertise. Every page speaks to Arditti’s deep learning: he feels at ease depicting an aesthetic argument between Botticelli and Leonardo da Vinci.’
Michael Lapointe, Times Literary Supplement

‘Michael Arditti’s massive and ambitious novel.  The vivid and often disturbing narrative is well-informed and thought-provoking.  Richly and movingly described.’
Peggy Woodford, Church Times

‘Michael Arditti is a novelist who has grown more ambitious, and at the same time become more accomplished.  In this new long novel religious faith and obedience are examined over the centuries, in five distinct episodes (each introduced by the Archangel Gabriel) that extend from the Jews’ exile in Babylon to Hollywood at the tail-end of the second millennium since the birth of Christ… I found the Florentine section the most impressive and delightful, and the depiction of the 19th century parson incapable of imaginative insight into other ways of living, feeling and thinking the most brilliant; comedy as criticism.’
Allan Massie, The Scotsman

‘Michael Arditti’s graceful and stylish work of fiction.  With a delicate panache (he) manages to weave modern scholarship into stories that range from the Babylonian exile of ancient Hebrews through a mystery play in medieval York in England, from Renaissance Florence and 19th-century Palestine to Los Angeles during the height of the AIDS crisis.  It is all deeply moving and convincing, and one of Arditti’s many strengths is that he doesn’t allow the argument to dominate the humanity.  He is about storytelling and not propaganda;  he is implicit rather than didactic… So compelling and so vitally important.’
Michael Coren, The Globe and Mail (Canada)