"An engrossing, enthralling and utterly captivating read, The Young
Pretender tells a simply remarkable story with bounce, energy, wit,
and lively authenticity . . . Michael Arditti's brilliant
imaginative achievement offers high comedy, dark tragedy and
everything between" STEPHEN FRY "The Young Pretender is an absolute
joy - charming and funny, with the lightest hint of melancholy, and
a wonderfully imaginative recreation of the Georgian theatre scene"
KATE SAUNDERS "I loved how Arditti conjures...the smell of the
theatre and the ghosts of these bygone players that haunt the
stage...and the wonderful period details. Arditti wears his
research so lightly" LARUSHKA IVAN-ZADEH, reviewing on Radio 4's
FRONT ROW ***** "A vivid, highly detailed portrait of life in
rumbustious Regency London" Mail on Sunday Mobbed by the masses,
lionised by the aristocracy, courted by royalty and lusted after by
patrons of both sexes, the child actor William Henry West Betty was
one of the most famous people in Georgian Britain. At the age of
thirteen, he played leading roles, including Romeo, Macbeth and
Richard III, in theatres across the country. Prime Minister William
Pitt adjourned the House of Commons so that its members could
attend his debut as Hamlet at Covent Garden. Then, as rivals turned
on him and scandal engulfed him, he suffered a fall as merciless as
his rise had been meteoric. "Arditti's voice as Betty is
impeccable. He is touchy, sometimes myopic, sincere in his
ambitions. His attempts to reclaim lost glory are run through with
an affecting melancholy" The Times The Young Pretender takes place
during Betty's attempted comeback at the age of twenty-one. As he
seeks to relaunch his career, he is forced to confront the painful
truths behind his boyhood triumphs. Michael Arditti's revelatory
new novel puts this long forgotten figure back in the limelight. In
addition to its rich and poignant portrait of Betty himself, it
offers an engrossing insight into both the theatre and society of
the age. The nature of celebrity, the power of publicity and the
cult of youth are laid bare in a story that is more pertinent now
than ever. "Entrancing and disturbing" ALLAN MASSIE, The Scotsman
"Michael Arditti tells a story of a Regency child star with great
panache and compassion, bringing a forgotten celebrity back to life
for the modern age. A compelling read I was sad to finish." LINDA
GRANT "Michael Arditti is a writer who takes risks. His material is
always compelling and provocative, his techniques sophisticated and
oblique" PATRICIA DUNCKER, Independent on Sunday "Arditti is a
master storyteller" PETER STANFORD, Observer
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