MANTEL PIECES

Quality reading.

Love anything by Hilary Mantel. And this didn’t disappoint.

Come da titolo. Sono contenta dell'acquisto.

A delight to read and no doubt re-read. Beautifully written, of course - it’s Hilary Mantel. Wonderful! Thoroughly enjoyed it.

well it is well written but the essays are really more for an UK audience as there are national stories we Americans aren't familiar with

This is streets (nay towns, planets) ahead of the normal run of the mill lazy collected journalism volumes that come out when a writer needs a quick publish. Mantel, as ever is a supreme stylist and completely in command of her material. These are all pieces published in the London review of Books and are interspersed with emails to and from editors of the said publication. Every article is a complete hermetically sealed winner- usually, but not always a book review; occasionally biographical pieces about her in situ (hospitals etc) and always quite brilliantly written, tight, precise but also thoughtful and hugely erudite, whilst being entertaining and dare I say it informative. Lengthy reviews but models of the kind most can only aspire too.The Tudor historical ones stand out but she also writes a brilliant review of a book about Danton gently correcting the authors factual errors and showing such vast knowledge as to be an expert- as she is having written the big novel, A Place of Greater Safety (research and all). There is resonance and considerable depth of reflection. There is also edge and one can see why the essay on Royal Bodies raised a few hackles- Hilary doesn't mess about. I loved this and chuckled away as well as occasionally shuddering with recognition when she made a point so spot on it could hit me in the eye. Probably will use this as a reference if any topics i'm looking at match and boy, is it a great read. If there was any doubt Mantel demonstrates both her longevity as a great writer and her steely determination to stay at the top of the pack. Fabulous and highly recommended.