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Hilary Mantel has died

124 replies

HelloAvocado · 23/09/2022 11:26

What terrible news. Rest in peace.

OP posts:
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EmmaH2022 · 23/09/2022 11:52

So sorry to hear this.

I would have hoped she'd see The Mirror and the Light on screen and likely stage.

if you haven't read her Reith lectures, they are fascinating. Can't recommend them highly enough. Extraordinarily talented lady.

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LuluBlakey1 · 23/09/2022 11:55

I'm really sad to read this. 70 is no age. My favourite of her novels is 'Beyond Black'- one of my favourite novels of any writer. It's an extraordinary creation- sad, sinister, funny, seedy, scary- set in Enfield which seems like an absolute wasteland.

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EmmaH2022 · 23/09/2022 11:57

LuluBlakey1 · 23/09/2022 11:55

I'm really sad to read this. 70 is no age. My favourite of her novels is 'Beyond Black'- one of my favourite novels of any writer. It's an extraordinary creation- sad, sinister, funny, seedy, scary- set in Enfield which seems like an absolute wasteland.

Ouch, there are some lovely bits of Enfield.

Beyond Black wasn't my thing, but you know when you can appreciate massive talent even when the book isn't your taste? Bit like that.

I had no idea of her age but it seems very shocking, she's such a legend.

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Ulysses · 23/09/2022 11:58

Such sad news about an extraordinary writer. From Wolf Hall I’ve been fascinated by Tudor life and times but nobody has written about it with such a gift as she has.

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PacificState · 23/09/2022 11:59

What a mind she had. A one-off.

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FionaMacCool · 23/09/2022 12:00

I just saw this and am so shocked. What a wonderful mind, she had so much to offer.
RIP Hilary 😢and condolences to her family.

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TheTurn0fTheScrew · 23/09/2022 12:00

Such sad news. She was simply brilliant.

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MissHavishamsMouldyOldCake · 23/09/2022 12:00

I recently read an interview she gave where she said endo had blighted her entire life. Think she was also planning to move to Ireland. Argh, it's just such a shame she's gone at only 70.

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DoYouRememberDiedreBarlow · 23/09/2022 12:01

Oh how sad. She was a beautiful writer.

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newnamethanks · 23/09/2022 12:01

Oh that's very sad. RIP Hilary, far too soon to leave. Wolf Hall is on iplayer, I'll watch again in memoriam. Her master piece.

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EveSix · 23/09/2022 12:03

Oh no. Such a great writer.
I'm listening to the Wolf Hall trilogy on Audible at the moment for probably the 8th time while recovering from illness, it's my go to for when I need to stop thinking; such skilled story-telling.

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Beamur · 23/09/2022 12:03

Sad news for her family but a wonderful legacy of writing she's left behind. The Wolf Hall trilogy are amongst my most favourite books.

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LiesDoNotBecomeUs · 23/09/2022 12:03

Such sad news! Her writing is amazing.

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greenhousegal · 23/09/2022 12:04

Sad loss and so relatively young. It was sudden but peaceful and that's a blessing in lots of ways. She said this in an interview recently, and has gone up greatly (if that's possible) in my estimation.

Mantel and her husband Gerald McEwan moved to west Cork earlier this year. She told Italian newspaper La Repubblica last year that she hoped to gain Irish citizenship and become “a European again”. She said the popularity of the monarchy “baffles” her.

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Fenella123 · 23/09/2022 12:07

LuluBlakey1 · 23/09/2022 11:55

I'm really sad to read this. 70 is no age. My favourite of her novels is 'Beyond Black'- one of my favourite novels of any writer. It's an extraordinary creation- sad, sinister, funny, seedy, scary- set in Enfield which seems like an absolute wasteland.

This
Beyond Black is genuinely original.

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LizzieSiddal · 23/09/2022 12:12

I’m so sad to hear this. What a loss to literature!

RIP Dame Hilary.

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heathspeedwell · 23/09/2022 12:14

Really sad, a fantastic writer and a formidable woman.

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EmmaH2022 · 23/09/2022 12:18

Oh my crappy memory

anyone remember the last line of the play Wolf Hall....it's just literally the name of the Seymours' home, I believe?

what a legacy.

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ShirleyJackson · 23/09/2022 12:19

That’s devastating, I admire her work so much.

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AdelaideRo · 23/09/2022 12:20

I'm also sad. I love the audible versions of the Wolf Hall trilogy. They are my go to recommendation for long car journeys.

(Not sure all my friends' teens thank me!)

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MassiveWordSalad · 23/09/2022 12:23

Oh no! I'm really sad. She's been through a lot of ill health over the years, but I thought she would be around longer 😢

Apart from the amazing Thomas Cromwell books, I'd add that 'A Place of Greater Safety', about the French Revolution - a work of genius, along with 'Beyond Black'. And 'Eight Months on Ghazzah Street'. Heck, everything she's written! I shall have to fill in the gaps in my reading in tribute.

Oh - and I'd also recommend her autobiographical 'Giving up the Ghost' too. She was truly unique and I will miss her very much.

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AmyDudley · 23/09/2022 12:24

Such sad news - she was an incredible writer, the Wolf Hall trilogy was really one of the best things I have ever read. An amazing woman, gone too soon.

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Ifionlyknewthenwhatiknownow3 · 23/09/2022 12:25

I recommend reading her first two novels, Every day is Mother's day and Vacant possession. I found them hysterically blankly funny.

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Ifionlyknewthenwhatiknownow3 · 23/09/2022 12:25

Blackly funny

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certainlyitis · 23/09/2022 12:27

What sad news. She was a wonderful writer.

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