The Anointed (Paperback)

A wonderfully rich novel. Arditti brings Ancient Israel to life - Allan Massie, Scotsman

[A] fierce, sinewy novel. It is not the new beginning but the preceding dynastic carnage that's gripping - the blood-strewn road to spirituality and wisdom, through murder, sensuality and betrayal, as described by three women, wives of King David, who travel it in exhilaration and terror - Howard Jacobsen

It is with great joy that the reader will fall upon Michael Arditti's latest novel - Fr Alexander Lucie-Smith, Catholic Herald

In bringing the neglected figures of Michal, Abigail and Bathsheba to powerful life, Michael Arditti also paints a lethally honest portrait of an Old Testament hero. It is a novel that makes one think again and is absolutely fascinating - Elizabeth Buchan

Arditti has an unusual voice and perspective that deserve a larger audience . . . Rich in history, The Anointed highlights the lost role of women in the foundation stories of the great faiths, and suggests the hidden homoeroticism (between David and Michal's big brother Jonathan, described in the Old Testament as 'becoming one in spirit') lurking in otherwise emotionally inexplicable passages in our holy books. Most of all, Arditti asks profound questions about those who feel themselves called to lead - whether they be great kings, godlike figures or today's statesmen and women. What is the human cost incurred when their self-belief slides into self-delusion - for them and for those around them? - Peter Standord, Spectator