Hilary Mantel’s interests, apart from the Tudors, include ghosts and the haunted. She also used to be a social worker. This mix is brought together in a weird semi-autobiographical plot involving four characters and their reactions to a haunted house, and a haunted existence. What makes this book so enjoyable is the way Mantel is sure to explain away every haunting with a reasonable explanation, but then will have another character experience the same ghost, hindering these reasons with another inexplicable side.
Widow Evelyn Axon is a psychic, or so she says. She lives with her adult but mentally impaired daughter Muriel in their big old house. She accepts they must obey the ghost that exists there, who leaves notes in rooms with instructions that often make Evelyn very uncomfortable. Muriel has a secret life, and punishes her mother by making out she’s less capable than she is, and is now pregnant. Evelyn is baffled as to how she managed it. Muriel’s social worker Isabel is having an affair with married man Colin, whose sister lives next door to the Axons. How can they help the weird pair of neighbours, and how can they save themselves from their own miserable lives?
This is one of the best representations of living in a haunted house out there, and the slow familial psychological poisoning that goes with it is perfectly painted. When Mantel was asked recently if she believes in ghosts, she said, “I know of ghosts…” and that’s how this book will make readers feel. There’s no doubt ghosts exist for this book, but how are they known? Why do they linger after death? What secrets do the Axons keep that cause the bad energy in their house to thrive, and what will happen after the baby comes?
Well, the outcome is very nasty indeed, but in this universe, it seems like the only answer, and sort of fair, and that’s a universe well-constructed.Many will be disappointed that Mantel doesn’t present a palatable cosy thriller as she does in her historical books. The truth is, this book is much more successful, technically speaking. The intense use of character and language to force the reader to see the characters’ points of view and accept them, even when they are terrible people, is powerful creative glue.
An entirely odd and original story with a traditional British feel. The only book that comes close to this is “The Sandman” by Miles Gibson (1984) for gore, creep, and tea and biscuits all in one.
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