Beyond Black

Hilary Mantel (2005) ‘Beyond Black’ Alison Hart is fat and a medium. Colette is not. She is sharp and thin. They are an odd couple tied together in this life, but Alison’s past comes back to haunt her. There are a number of set plays, such as Princess Diana’s death, but, for me the most interesting part by far was ‘About the author’ at the end, where Louise Tucker talks to the author. I have absolutely no idea why this book received such sterling reviews from such notable authors as Fay Weldon and Philip Pullman. I wouldn’t have stuck with the book, but thought I must have been missing the spirit of something. I see this now as time wasted.