CULTURE CLUB
Book Club CAMBRIDGE EDITION THIS MONTH’S STORIES RUN THE GAMUT, FROM THE MUSINGS OF A MASTER STORYTELLER, TO A THRILLING MIX OF TECH AND SPYCRAFT
WORDS BY CHARLOTTE GRIFFITHS
Mantel Pieces BY HILARY MANTEL
This splendidly named collection of essays, diary entries and correspondence by Hilary Mantel is a must-have for fans of her work. Beginning in 1987 with a polite letter to Karl Miller, then-editor of the London Review of Books , the neophyte writer describes her style as having “no critical training whatsoever, so I am forced to be more brisk and breezy than scholarly”. She explains in the book’s introduction that, as her relationship with the LRB grew stronger over time, her contributions became “more expansive, the work became more challenging, and my unease dissipated”. While we’re led to the present day via reproductions of notes, faxes, kill-fee cheques and emails, Mantel’s otherworldly abilities begin to unfurl. Turning over subjects in her mind, each piece is punctuated with sudden sparks of connection and those gradually revealed allusions that lurch up from the depths of her astounding imagination. She writes that, although there was a temptation to add afterthoughts or update the thinking on display in her earlier pieces, she has chosen to leave them as they are, describing them as “messages from people I used to be”. EACH PIECE IS PUNCTUATED WITH SUDDEN SPARKS OF CONNECTION
The book also includes Royal Bodies , her infamous (and superb) lecture on the contemporary royal family, which attracted a whirl of press attention – bookended here neatly with emails between Mantel and the LRB ’s then-editor, Mary-Kay Wilmers. Preceding messages discuss the practicalities of the talk, including their preferred way to describe Kate Middleton: “No question at all of calling her the Duchess of Cambridge. That would be awful,” while the mid-furore follow-up email from Hilary begins: “ The Daily Express is sitting outside my house…” Her fond, funny notes to Mary-Kay in particular allow a glimpse of what it must be like in this extraordinary writer’s circle of acquaintances, treating us to a brief moment backstage before being kindly, but firmly, escorted out the side exit. Mantel’s brilliance and all-consuming approach to writing mean that new projects from this author appear far too infrequently – so, any opportunity to spend more time in her company should be grabbed with both hands.
ACCLAIMED This collection of writing follows a career of glittering success in fiction for Mantel
20 FEBRUARY 2022 CAMBSEDITION.CO.UK
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