Beyond Black (Telling Stories)
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Review
‘Magnificent…It’s one of the greatest ghost stories in the language, but it’s far more than just a ghost story – it’s a novel of desperate truthfulness – a majestic work, truly.’ Philip Pullman
‘Sparkling, sinister and supremely original.’ Sunday Telegraph
‘As black as a tar barrel and very, very funny.’ The Times
‘Laceratingly observant, a masterpiece of wit, heavy with atmosphere. It is also gloriously insolent and slyly funny: full of robust, uncluttered prose and searing moments.' Independent
‘Pins elusive Middle England to the page in all its creepiness: a place blank and disconnected, yet fatally self-absorbed.’ Rachel Cooke, Observer
‘An elegant, atmospheric tale and a nuanced portrait, full of ironies.’ Tatler
'Chilling, creepy and endlessly inventive.' Kate Saunders, The Times
‘Hilary Mantel has done something extraordinary. She has taken the ethereal halfway house between heaven and hell, between the living and the dead, and nailed it on the page.’ Fay Weldon, Guardian
‘Has the kind of gallows humour that makes you laugh out loud…A real page-turner, a darkly humorous take on the enduring effects of childhood trauma.’ Mslexia
'A deep, disturbing, violently amusing and subversive work.’ Daily Telegraph
Independent
'Mantel critiques Blair’s Britain with delightfully hellish results...A clarion call to the living dead.’
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
132 of 135 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I bought this book after much deliberation - All the papers loved it - but most of the reviews I read on this site were less than favourable. I decided to make my own mind up.
The plot of this book concerns Alison, a gifted but troubled psychic, with a horrific past - touring lacklustre psychic fairs on the ring road around London, offering comfort to the bereaved, passing on messages from the departed - All the while, coming to terms with her squalid, abusive upbringing and dreadful treatment at the hands of her prostitute mother and the squaddies and lowlifes who populated her early life and still torment her after their passing. Morris, her seedy spirit guide, is her departed link to the past she would rather forget.
Colette, her thorny assistant - plays a major part, sceptical and indifferent to her spectral tormentors - she grounds Alison firmly in reality with diets, timetables and a complete lack of sympathy. A host of sardonically characterised mediums and mystics give some comic relief and balance the intense horror of her childhood.
The key to this book is that it's not a thriller or a ghost story - its a beautifully written tale of facing up to your demons - alive or dead, Mantel writes with confidence and her prose is, at times, breathtaking. Her characters are well observed and she breathes life into the dead - Morris and his cronies are believable - horrible small time crooks, with nothing to talk about but the old days and why they can't get a good savaloy anymore. You also realise that the world that Alison inhabits is as dead as the one she can tap into.
My only criticism is a slightly slow 3rd quarter - that being said, once you read the last page, you will miss Alison - you might even miss Morris.
The plot of this book concerns Alison, a gifted but troubled psychic, with a horrific past - touring lacklustre psychic fairs on the ring road around London, offering comfort to the bereaved, passing on messages from the departed - All the while, coming to terms with her squalid, abusive upbringing and dreadful treatment at the hands of her prostitute mother and the squaddies and lowlifes who populated her early life and still torment her after their passing. Morris, her seedy spirit guide, is her departed link to the past she would rather forget.
Colette, her thorny assistant - plays a major part, sceptical and indifferent to her spectral tormentors - she grounds Alison firmly in reality with diets, timetables and a complete lack of sympathy. A host of sardonically characterised mediums and mystics give some comic relief and balance the intense horror of her childhood.
The key to this book is that it's not a thriller or a ghost story - its a beautifully written tale of facing up to your demons - alive or dead, Mantel writes with confidence and her prose is, at times, breathtaking. Her characters are well observed and she breathes life into the dead - Morris and his cronies are believable - horrible small time crooks, with nothing to talk about but the old days and why they can't get a good savaloy anymore. You also realise that the world that Alison inhabits is as dead as the one she can tap into.
My only criticism is a slightly slow 3rd quarter - that being said, once you read the last page, you will miss Alison - you might even miss Morris.
49 of 51 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I really enjoyed this book as, unlike so many these days, it had depth and something to sink my teeth into. The reviews here are disappointing and I wanted to give another view. There were points during this book that were laugh out loud funny, as well as very, very sad. Alison is a wonderful character who struggles with what life has thrown at her. She is seeking to remember her past traumas and come to terms with her reality. Colette has hidden depths, but cannot find the heart to find out what they are. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well-written and well-planned novel, not just to those who have a vested interest in the 'mystical.' Heart-warming and touching. I was truly sorry to leave Alison behind
26 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Ghosts have always been the lamest members of the monster family, and it's very hard to find a good story about them - few have motivations that go much beyond Vengeance from Beyond The Grave!, and they very rarely do anything interesting, especially the ones that just repeat their own death scene over and over again. HiIary Mantell has managed to do something very special with this book by taking the conventional ghost-behaviour and twisting it into something new and quite horrible.
The premise sounds rather like a sitcom: Alison is a medium who works the London commuter-belt circuit doing psychic fairs and private readings, accompanied by her sharp but efficient (non-psychic) assistant Colette and unpleasant spirit guide Morris. However, this is comedy of the very blackest variety. Against the bleak backdrop of travelodges, motorway service stations and draughty civic halls, Alison's life revolves around the petty rivalry of her fellow mediums, the bovine gullibility of her audience and Colette's nasty sniping; there's not a nice character among them. And the ghosts are even worse.
It's always left slightly ambiguous as to whether the ghosts are actually real or just hallucinations brought on by the trauma in Alison's earlier childhood - brought up by her prostitute mother among the squaddies and seedy criminal underclass of an overspill council estate. It is from this background that Alison's ghosts come; not spooky or vengeful, but sleazy, unpleasant characters who you'd certainly avoid if they were alive, and now they can walk through your wall whenever they want... Not all the spirits are malignant, but they are all as petty and dull as they were when alive - no messages or threats from beyond the grave, just worries about their dry cleaning or compliments on their relatives' new furniture.
The front-end story is Alison's relationship with Colette, who is reluctantly escaping a failed marriage, and her struggles to cope with the ghosts who are becoming increasingly intrusive. The main point of the book, however, is the gradual uncovering of Alison's past; even though the front story slows down towards the end, there is still plenty to keep you involved. Mantell paints a beautifully bleak England composed of concrete blocks, wastelands and motorways, which contrasts nicely with the dry humour used to describe (for example) the slightly bogus psychic readings and Colette's pathetic ex-husband. It is a very dark novel, but you should still come out of it smiling.
The premise sounds rather like a sitcom: Alison is a medium who works the London commuter-belt circuit doing psychic fairs and private readings, accompanied by her sharp but efficient (non-psychic) assistant Colette and unpleasant spirit guide Morris. However, this is comedy of the very blackest variety. Against the bleak backdrop of travelodges, motorway service stations and draughty civic halls, Alison's life revolves around the petty rivalry of her fellow mediums, the bovine gullibility of her audience and Colette's nasty sniping; there's not a nice character among them. And the ghosts are even worse.
It's always left slightly ambiguous as to whether the ghosts are actually real or just hallucinations brought on by the trauma in Alison's earlier childhood - brought up by her prostitute mother among the squaddies and seedy criminal underclass of an overspill council estate. It is from this background that Alison's ghosts come; not spooky or vengeful, but sleazy, unpleasant characters who you'd certainly avoid if they were alive, and now they can walk through your wall whenever they want... Not all the spirits are malignant, but they are all as petty and dull as they were when alive - no messages or threats from beyond the grave, just worries about their dry cleaning or compliments on their relatives' new furniture.
The front-end story is Alison's relationship with Colette, who is reluctantly escaping a failed marriage, and her struggles to cope with the ghosts who are becoming increasingly intrusive. The main point of the book, however, is the gradual uncovering of Alison's past; even though the front story slows down towards the end, there is still plenty to keep you involved. Mantell paints a beautifully bleak England composed of concrete blocks, wastelands and motorways, which contrasts nicely with the dry humour used to describe (for example) the slightly bogus psychic readings and Colette's pathetic ex-husband. It is a very dark novel, but you should still come out of it smiling.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
My favourite book- a masterpiece
Beyond Black is one of those books that really gets under your skin. It's visceral, gritty, fantastically written and full of such powerful imagery, shocks, scares and even... Read more
Published 16 days ago by bennyben80
so not one of the greatest English ghost stories
No idea how Philip Pullman came up with that quote. I am fascinated by ghost stories, mediums, fortune tellers, psychics; all the things that the book claims to deal with, but I... Read more
Published 18 days ago by nerosmaster
What a disappointment
Someone whose judgement I respect recommended this book, I was intrigued by the synopsis & I had just read Wolf Hall in which Hilary Mantel Does the impossible & makes that... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Abiding in the fields
Beyond Black
I had a job making much sense of it so put it down to read another book. My friend tells me it is a fantastic book so I won't give up on it just yet.
Published 1 month ago by Procyon
really depressing
I bought this book because it's apparently about a woman who tours as a medium. I should have paid more attention to the blurb on the back, that she is "plagued by the spirits of... Read more
Published 1 month ago by murmuration
Dark and ahead of its time
Ahead of its time in the sense that this was written a tad before the psychic-as-celebrity explosion. A dark tale clotted with black humour. Spot-on. Read more
Published 2 months ago by AL
Beautifully written, but...
Well I don't know what to say about this book. Still not sure if it's worth the 4 star rating I've given it, but somehow I liked it, even though it didn't completely grip me. Read more
Published 2 months ago by G. MCGINTY
I loved it!
The book grabbed me from the first - the lengthy description of the dull industrial landscape was somehow new, the weird world of the mediums and fortune tellers was captured with... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Applecake
Extra Large Medium
Dark story that starts well, sags in the middle and just about picks itself up toward the end. When "The Fiends" are around the book is dark, grotesque, well written and... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Brian
Transcending the M25
In her novel Beyond Black, Hilary Mantel presents a series of characters who ought to be Mr and Mrs, or Uncle and Auntie Normal. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Philip Spires
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