Mantel Pieces by Hilary Mantel - Non Fiction - Hardback

Condition: BRAND NEW
Format: Hardback
ISBN: 9780008429973
Publisher: Fourth Estate
Age Range: Adult

Overview

Mantel Pieces brings together twenty of Hilary Mantel's finest essays, reviews and pieces of memoir, written for the London Review of Books over three decades. Ranging from Robespierre to Madonna, from Saudi Arabia to the Tudor court, this collection showcases the razor-sharp intelligence and dry wit that made Mantel one of Britain's most celebrated writers. Fans of the Wolf Hall trilogy will recognise the same forensic historical insight, here turned to essays, letters and diary extracts. A perfect gift for readers of literary non-fiction.

About the Book

Before her Booker Prize-winning fiction, Hilary Mantel was a fearless essayist for the London Review of Books. Mantel Pieces gathers the best of that writing since her first LRB piece in 1987. Her subjects are dazzlingly wide-ranging: Robespierre and Danton, the Hite Report, her years living in Saudi Arabia, the Bulger case, playwright John Osborne, the Virgin Mary and pop icon Madonna, and a brilliant reassessment of Helen Duncan, Britain's last convicted witch. Several essays revisit the Tudor world she made famous in the Wolf Hall trilogy, exploring Jane Boleyn, Charles Brandon, Christopher Marlowe and Margaret Pole with the same astonishing historical insight. Her infamous lecture "Royal Bodies", which provoked a media storm on its publication, examines how royal women are perceived and consumed by the public imagination. Interleaved throughout are LRB diary entries, personal letters and archive ephemera, including a memorable account of meeting her stepfather for the first time and a tense encounter with a circus strongman. Constantly illuminating, often very funny, and always penetrating, Mantel Pieces is an essential companion to Mantel's fiction and a superb introduction to her nonfiction voice for new readers.

• Twenty essays and memoir pieces spanning three decades of writing
• Includes the notorious "Royal Bodies" lecture on royal women
• Tudor-themed essays that complement the Wolf Hall trilogy
• Brand new hardback, ideal for gifting to literary fiction fans
• Showcases Mantel's range across history, culture and memoir
• A must-have for collectors of Hilary Mantel's complete body of work

About the Author

Dame Hilary Mantel DBE FRSL (1952–2022) was one of Britain's most acclaimed writers, celebrated for historical fiction, memoir and short stories. She is best known for the Wolf Hall trilogy, which won her the Booker Prize twice and became a global publishing phenomenon. Her first novel, Every Day Is Mother's Day, appeared in 1985, and she went on to publish twelve novels, two short story collections, a memoir and numerous essays for publications including the London Review of Books.

Why You'll Love This Book

Sharp, witty and endlessly perceptive, Mantel Pieces is a treasure trove for anyone who loves Hilary Mantel's fiction and wants more of her extraordinary voice, this time turned on history, culture and her own remarkable life.

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