Staff Pick
In first-rate style, replete with her wicked humor and merciless eye, Mantel cuts to the quick in this dazzling and diverse collection of stories. Ranging from sinister to unsettling, these sharply drawn and thrillingly unpredictable stories further demonstrate the insightful intelligence and dark brilliance of this gifted author. Recommended By Renee P., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
From one of Britain's most accomplished, acclaimed, and garlanded writers, Hilary Mantel delivers a brilliant collection of contemporary short stories that demonstrate what modern England has become.
In The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher, Hilary Mantel's trademark gifts of penetrating characterization, unsparing eye, and rascally intelligence are once again fully on display. Her classic wicked humor in each story -- which range from a ghost story to a vampire story to near-memoir to mini-sagas of family and social fracture -- brilliantly unsettles the reader in that unmistakably Mantel way.
Mantel brutally and acutely writes about gender, marriage, class, family, and sex, cutting to the core of human experience. Unpredictable, diverse, and even shockingly unexpected, each story grabs you by the throat within a couple of sentences. The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher displays a magnificent writer at the peak of her powers.
Review
"Hilary Mantel has escaped from King Henry VIII's court." The Wall Street Journal
Review
"Mantel's stories have their own special tang and quidditas. Even as one appreciates the suave authorial style -- light pared-down, technically scintillating, like the Olympic gymnast who nails her landing every time -- one has the sense too that mantel is working with some fairly edgy and complex private material in these contemporary fables....One gets the feeling she wants both to frighten us (at times more than a little) and make us laugh. She's like an old-fashioned spirit -- medium of sorts: a brusque, mischievous, Madame Arcati-like purveyor of uncanny moments. She transports us somewhere else. And she seems to be having great fun with it too....Mantel is such a funny and intelligent and generously untethered writer that part of what one's praise must mean is that if you're intelligent and quirky enough to take the book up at all...she's got quirks enough of her own to match you, if not raise you 10." New York Times Book Review
Synopsis
The New York Times bestselling collection, from the Man Booker prize-winner for Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, that has been called "scintillating" (New York Times Books Review), "breathtaking" (NPR), "exquisite" (The Chicago Tribune) and "otherworldly" (Washington Post).
"A new Hilary Mantel book is an Event with a 'capital 'E.'"-NPR
"A book of her short stories is like a little sweet treat."-USA Today (4 stars)
" Mantel is at] the top of her game."-Salon
"Genius."-The Seattle Times
One of the most accomplished, acclaimed, and garlanded writers, Hilary Mantel delivers a brilliant collection of contemporary stories
In The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher, Hilary Mantel's trademark gifts of penetrating characterization, unsparing eye, and rascally intelligence are once again fully on display.
Stories of dislocation and family fracture, of whimsical infidelities and sudden deaths with sinister causes, brilliantly unsettle the reader in that unmistakably Mantel way.
Cutting to the core of human experience, Mantel brutally and acutely writes about marriage, class, family, and sex. Unpredictable, diverse, and sometimes shocking, The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher displays a magnificent writer at the peak of her powers.
About the Author
Hilary Mantel is the two-time winner of the Man Booker Prize for her best-selling novels, Wolf Hall, and its sequel, Bring Up the Bodies -- an unprecedented achievement. The Royal Shakespeare Company recently adapted Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies for the stage to colossal critical acclaim. The two productions, which run at the Swan Theater in Stratford-upon-Avon until March 29th have been sold out for months. Those without tickets can look forward to the BBC/Masterpiece six part adaption of the novels, which will broadcast in the Spring of 2015 with "Homeland" actor, Damien Lewis, to star as Henry VIII and Mark Rylance to portray Thomas Cromwell.
The author of thirteen books, including A Place of Greater Safety, Beyond Black, and the memoir Giving up the Ghost, she is currently at work on the third installment of the Thomas Cromwell Trilogy.