The Enemy of the Good by Michael Arditti
Arcadia, £11.99
AT A time when the media continually assails us with panic headlines declaring that the family is in crisis, a novel that throws new light on the trials and tribulations of this venerable institution has to do more than merely reassure. Using the family unit as a base, Michael Arditti fearlessly tackles such fundamental issues as the bitter conflict between liberalism and fundamentalism, a battle that lies at the heart of any civilized society.
The Enemy of the Good – a reference to Voltaire’s “The best is the enemy of the good” – revolves around the Granvilles, a wealthy family that faces and, significantly, survives topical issues whether about the way we deal with prejudice around HIV, the integration of immigrants, particularly Muslims, into society, the rights and wrongs of euthanasia and the relevance and meaning of Christian belief today.
Arditti has assembled an intriguing cast. Clement, the eldest son, still traumatised by the death of his twin, is a brilliantly talented artist who paints controversial religious images, interpreting the Bible from a non-orthodox perspective. He has a partner, Mike, and is HIV positive. His sister Susannah finds happiness and fulfilment by becoming a Lubovitch, a fundamentalist Chasidic sect, and marrying a member of the closed community. Their father, Edwin, frail and in his early eighties, is a retired bishop who has lost his faith but still believes in the structures of the church. Marta, their mother, a child of the Warsaw ghetto, a highly respected but contentious anthropologist, is forced to confront her own past by the terminal illness of her husband.
Far from being a mere family saga, Arditti gives us three viewpoints – that of son, daughter and mother – to describe events such as the exposure of Clement’s private life, the rites, rituals and rigid conventions of the Lubovitch way of life, and the love of a mother for her husband and her family – all embodied in a gripping tale of high drama.
With great skill and sensitivity, Arditti seamlessly weaves into the narrative tough debates about God, when, if ever, taking life is appropriate, such as in euthanasia – a moving and sometimes harrowing account in relation to his father’s severe illness – and the threats posed to the liberalism of society which, while welcoming diversity and integration, fears its own values are being undermined.
With consummate ease, Arditti highlights many of the dilemmas facing society today, leavening the load with subtle humour and wry observations on human nature. His characters leap off the page, living on long in the imagination. Thoughtful but entertaining, intelligent but accessible, The Enemy of the Good is an enjoyable read while also pulling no punches in offering a challenge to conventional views. A novel for – and of – our time.
Emmanuel Cooper
