The Tribe

Books to look out for in the first half of 2026 —Lucy Popescu, Camden New Journal

The Tribe is the epic tale of a family and its history and a family in history.

The Carraches are a powerful Sephardic dynasty in the cosmopolitan city of Salonica during the dying days of the Ottoman Empire. After the Greek annexation of the city, they settle in France until, in 1940, the Nazi Occupation sends some into hiding, some into flight and others into camps. In the early 1960s, the survivors and their children confront the family's past, with long hidden secrets uncovered and deep-seated conflicts exposed, even as the Eichmann trial forces the world at large to confront the full enormity of the Holocaust.

The Tribe crosses cultures and continents in its exploration of family, race, nation and empire. As the central characters journey from adolescence through early adulthood to late middle age, they experience first loves, political and sexual awakenings, artistic triumphs, religious pressures, marital struggles, dynastic rivalries, brutal persecution, resilience and liberation, before, helped by their children, they finally achieve a degree of reconciliation both with one another and the city of their birth.

This is a marvellous book. What a story! It feels so effervescent despite the tragic end of some of its characters. I knew the story of the Jews of Salonica, but Arditti gives it flesh and blood and life. The Tribe entranced me.

(on previous work) Arditti is a master storyteller.



(on previous work) Arditti succeeds in creating fiction that is morally serious, moving and intense.



(on previous work) Anyone who is afraid that the English novel is sliding into a backwater of domestic anecdote should find their anxieties assuaged by the writing of Michael Arditti.



(on previous work) Thank God (maybe literally) for writers like Michael Arditti, whose invigorating novels dare to shake us out of our complacency.



(on previous work) Michael Arditti is a writer who takes risks. His material is always compelling and provocative, his techniques sophisticated and oblique.



(on previous work) Arditti writes exactly like Dickens. He demands participation from the reader in an era of detachment.



(on previous work) Michael Arditti has long been one of our bravest novelists.



Through these varied stories, Arditti proves himself to be a brilliant and sure-footed storyteller. He is able to establish place, character, politics and conflict in a few short pages. He is also adept at leaving a scene early, then picking the narrative up later from a new perspective. There is a depth of research which makes every location feel authentic … this family saga is an exceptional achievement.



If you enjoy historical epics, then I would also wholeheartedly recommend Michael Arditti's The Tribe (Salt), the enthralling tale of a Sephardic dynasty in Salonica.



An epic reading experience … ambitious … fascinating. weniger anzeigen expand_less