Michael Arditti is the Graham Greene of our time
Duncan Neville is an unlikely hero for a novel. Approaching 50, divorced and the butt of his teenage son Jamie’s utter contempt, Duncan is also the eloquent yet mild-mannered editor of the Francombe Mercury, a local newspaper on its last legs. Francombe too has seen better days, not least since its pier burnt down in
![](https://www.spectator.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/GettyImages_510206413.jpg?w=440)