Unity

In his first novel since the best-selling Easter, Michael Arditti explores the personalities and politics involved in the making of a lost film about the relationship between Unity Mitford and Hitler, set against the background of the Red Army Faction terror campaign in 1970s Germany. Shooting has to be abandoned when the leading actress participates in a terrorist attack following her relationship with a charismatic Palestinian activist. Arditti himself features in the narrative when, almost thirty years later, he attempts to uncover the truth about two of his friends who took part in the film. He consults the scriptwriter's letters and the diaries of a former Hollywood child star; interviews two of the German actors and the film's producer, an Auschwitz survivor turned high-powered pornographer; reads a revealing memoir by the director's widow, and corresponds with a Hollywood mogul. Their testimonies set up an intricate chain of associations from 1930s Britain to post-war Germany. Startlingly original in both concept and treatment, Unity paints a disturbing picture of corruption and fanaticism. Merging fact with fiction, it offers a profound insight into the true nature of evil.