This 10th novel from Hilary Mantel has been put in the long list for the Booker Prize this year. I'd never read any of Mantel's books before, but she's a long established and respected English author, and I'm looking forward to reading through her older books. So, as you can imagine, I enjoyed this one.
Alison Hart is a psychic, travelling around with her assistant Collette, her horrific medium Morris, and a whole pile of memories and ghosts from her childhood. Despite the characters, and a proliferation of dead people, it's not really a fantasy novel, but one with a much more personal scope. The real story is Alison and Collette, and their pasts that creep along behind them.
This is a dryly humerous novel, in parts, but I found it too dark and disturbing to describe it as funny. It's an excellent read, though - I love the way Mantel writes, and the way the bulky character of Alison treads through the pages. It also, on a note unrelated to the writing, made me want to use my tarot cards more regularly again - as long as Alison's fiends don't accompany me as they do her.
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