Easter

By Michael Arditti

Winner of the Mardi Gras and Waterstone's Book awards, longlisted for the Costa Novel award

'It's a delight to find a modern novel that takes religion and all the objections to it seriously as a subject: the rockpool of a London parish teems with all kinds of curious life' Philip Pullman

'Michael Arditti writes about Western Christianity, as it is manifest in the present Church of England, with pungency and satirical frankness. His style has Joycean echoes' Muriel Spark

A Vicar and his congregation are caught up in a latter-day Passion story that will tear apart their lives.

The parish of St Mary-in-the-Vale is preparing for Easter. In his Palm Sunday sermon, the Vicar explains that Christ's crucifixion and redemption are taking place every day. He little suspects that, before the week's out, he and his entire congregation will be caught up in a latter-day Passion story which will tear apart their lives.

Michael Arditti's magnificent novel is both a devastating portrait of today's Church of England and an audacious reworking of the central myth of Western culture. Taking the form of a traditional triptych, it is at once intimate and epic, lyrical and analytic. Shocking events unfold against a backdrop of meticulously observed religious services. High Church ritual, evangelical revivalism and the ancestor-worship of the English gentry are all subjected to merciless scrutiny.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1905147937
• ISBN13: 9781905147939
• Release Date: March 2008
• Publisher: Arcadia Books
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 5.0" x 7.7"

Customer Reviews

Compelling, Disturbing, Beautiful.

'Easter' is not an easy read, some of the passages would make many people (including myself) uncomfortable, but it is a compelling one. The parish of St Mary-in-the-Vale is preparing for Easter. In his Palm Sunday sermon, the Vicar explains that Christ's crucifixion and redemption are taking place every day. He little suspects that, before the week is out, he and his entire congregation will be caught up in a latter-day Passion story which will tear apart their lives. This is not a 'christian fiction' book - most christian bookstores would refuse to stock it because of its rather graphic homosexual scenes. The clash of Evangelicals, Anglo-Catholics and Liberals is played out against a backdrop of contemporary Parish Life that may seem unrealistic to anyone who has not witnessed the incredible variety that is London culture. The book presents the challenge of living a Contemporary Faith. The hymnal may have us sing of the 'Faith of our Fathers', but faith itself needs to be crucified and reborn for every generation. We do not live in the world of 'our fathers' and the manifestations of their faith leaves us ill equipped to deal with today. It is devastating to watch the faith of central characters get torn apart and killed, leaving you to wonder who will come forth from the grave. It's not an easy read, not just because of the content. The book has many characters, and I found myself referring to the list of them frequently. The book is written in triptych form. The first third presents the calendar of events during Holy week. It then switches to follow just one character in the drama. The final third of the book rewinds to Palm Sunday and replays the events from a different angle and fills in other details that the first section only hints at. Moving. Thought Provoking. Engaging. Shocking.

The Passion of Christ is at Hand

Arditti has skillfully woven together the many lives that make up the parish of St Mary-in-the-Vale as it prepares for Easter. The Passion of Christ is relived in the experiences of the clergy, parishioners, and the greater diocese. A questioning Vicar, his wife, Jessica (whose character is particularly well drawn), a gay Curate...haughty matrons, young lovers, men with AIDS, and (wittily) Queen Elizabeth provide the central cast, with a cartoonish (then tragic) bishop and twisted archdeacon, and various congregants adding color. The contrast between Evangelicals and Anglo-Catholics is black and white -- true to reality in the Church of England or not? Christ, salvation, liberation, the meaning of the Cross are all explored. Warning to the cautious: graphic homosexual scenes -- not titillating, but very honest. Top notch. Many (but not all!) seminarians loved it.