A companion piece to the captivating memoir GIVING UP THE GHOST by the Man Booker-winning author, this collection of loosely autobiographical stories locates the transforming moments of a haunted childhood.
This sharp, funny collection of stories drawn from life begins in the 1950s in an insular northern village 'scoured by bitter winds and rough gossip tongues.' For the child narrator, the only way to survive is to get up, get on, get out.
In 'King Billy is a Gentleman', the child must come to terms with the loss of a father and the puzzle of a fading Irish heritage. 'Curved Is the Line of Beauty' is a story of friendship, faith and a near-disaster in a scrap-yard. The title story sees our narrator ironing out her northern vowels with the help of an ex-actress with one lung and a Manchester accent. In 'Third Floor Rising', she watches, dazzled, as her mother carves out a stylish new identity.
With a deceptively light touch, Mantel locates the transforming moments of a haunted childhood.
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I cannot get out of mind, now, the village where I was born, just out of the curl of the city tentacles. KING BILLY IS A GENTLEMAN
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(@4thEstateBooks, 6 May 2010, 181 pages, ebook, bought from @AmazonKindle)
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Mantel is one of my favourite writers. This is the last book from her back catalogue I have to read. I enjoyed all of the stories in this collection. They share similar themes as her memoir, Giving up the Ghost which are childhood, illness and memory. The stories are all quite different. The best stories are Destroyed and Third Floor Rising. The other stories are good but these two shone a little brighter. The style of the stories is similar to her novels.
