Giving up the Ghost by Hilary Mantel

At their May meeting, members of Bale book group discussed Hilary Mantel’s memoir, Giving up the Ghost. Although it is an account of Mantel’s childhood, and of is, significant events, experiences and people in her life, it as she insists, not an autobiography.

The first part of the book describes, with acerbic wit and amazing recall, her unconventional and, at times, uncomfortable childhood, Her descriptions of incidents at her convent school made me very glad I wasn’t there.

The reader can feel her confusion at some of the strange ways of her teachers. She was particularly puzzled at being asked ‘Would you like me to hit you with a ruler?’

Much of the rest of the book centres on her many years of struggling with undiagnosed and misdiagnosed endometriosis. She experienced unnecessary and cruel psychiatric treatment and an increasingly mind-numbing drug regime.

Ghosts provide a continuous thread throughout the book, from those of her childhood to those of the children she could never have, and the things she may have experienced had she made different choices. The group was unanimous in its admiration of Mantel’s writing. It is concise, funny, sad, honest and moving.

Most members preferred the second part and almost all would recommend it to others. I certainly would.

Anne Peppit (Credit: Local Lynx Magazine – Edition 169)