Every Day Is Mother's Day
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Review
‘Strange…rather mad…extremely funny…she reminded me of the early Muriel Spark’ Auberon Waugh
‘Abrasive and amusing…crisp and intelligent’ Barbara Trapido
‘What a terrific book’ Fay Weldon
Product Description
Hilary Mantel’s superb story of suburban mayhem and revenge is sharp, merciless and unerringly hilarious.
Barricaded inside their house filled with festering rubbish, unhealthy smells and their secrets, the Axon family baffle Isabel Field, the latest in a long line of social workers.
Isabel has other problems too: a randy, untrustworthy father and a slackly romantic lover, Colin Sidney, history teacher to unresponsive yobs and father of a parcel of horrible children. With all this to worry about, how can Isabel begin to understand what is going on in the Axon household?
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It says something about an author when you give 5 stars to your least favourite of her novels! This isn't the one I would recommend if you haven't read others by Hilary Mantel, in fact 'Every Day Is Mother's Day' was a quickly written story while she was working on 'A Place Of Greater Safety'. But there is a fascinating strangeness to the atmosphere and some good characters.
The mother of the title is the strangest of the lot, a part-time medium with a daughter who has special needs, some of which have apparently landed her with a pregnancy. Along comes a social worker, and her own affairs of the heart form a sub-plot. In fact, she is linked with that odd, dark household of two mothers & a baby more closely than she knows.
Read the others first and come to this later. But it is worth coming to this later.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
There's comedy. There's dark comedy. And there's comedy so black you could polish your boots with it. Hilary Mantel's first published novel, Every Day Is Mother's Day, falls into the latter category.
For Mantel fans, this is no Wolf Hall, no Place Of Greater Safety: it's much closer to Fludd and Beyond Black. Set in a dreary town in a dreary decade (the 70s, obviously; everyone knows the 70s were all brown crimplene, power-cuts, and diarrhoea-coloured wallpaper), the novel follows the misfortunes of mother and daughter Evelyn and Muriel Axon, hapless social worker Isabel Field and the Sidneys, a tenaciously unhappy couple trapped in a loveless marriage.
How are they linked, then? Well, Isabel is social worker to the mysteriously backward, lumpen Muriel Axon, unloved by her increasingly paranoid mother Evelyn, who believes the house to be plagued by poltergeists. Isabel is embroiled in a rather petty little affair with Colin Sidney, whose sister Florence lives next door to the Axons in the house in which she and Colin grew up. Simple enough on the surface. But if you've ever read Hilary Mantel's other books, you'll know that in her worlds, there is always something festering beneath the skin of respectability, always some awkward, sharp edges, always some pieces that don't quite fit.
Evelyn and Muriel, in particular, are an almost shockingly dysfunctional pair. Prisoners in their own miserable house, possibly (or not) haunted by mysterious 'tenants', one of whom may or may not be Muriel's deceased father who may or may not have - well, just take it from me that it's all horribly sinister, and that slackjawed Muriel, locked into a cycle of mutual torment and neglect with her unstable mother, is a creation of unsurpassed creepiness.
Spare a thought too, though, for Colin and Sylvia Sidney. If they ever loved each other, they certainly feel nothing for each other now, and Colin doesn't have much fondness for his spiteful, charmless children either. She continues to produce babies, he continues to sink into depression and takes evening classes for no reason other than to escape from her. Could he have a chance at happiness with Isabel? Well, this is Hilary Mantel we're talking about. She's not known for happy endings.
This book does have striking similarities with Mantel's later novel, Beyond Black - the same destructive, loveless co-dependencies, the same Turn Of The Screw style are-they-aren't-they ghosts. Every Day Is Mother's Day isn't quite as disturbing, but it's getting there.
Alternately funny, horrifying and desperately sad, filled with characters who are almost entirely weak and unpleasant but yet brilliantly vivid and appallingly plausible (oh, how much do I wish I could create characters as brilliant as these) Every Day Is Mother's Day creeps on towards its brilliantly bitter, petty little end. If this book were a film, it would be directed by Mike Leigh, written and acted by the League of Gentlemen and would maybe include a little sprinkling of Julia Davis. Read it, but prepare to be disturbed. And have a bath afterwards. It makes you feel kind of itchy.
For Mantel fans, this is no Wolf Hall, no Place Of Greater Safety: it's much closer to Fludd and Beyond Black. Set in a dreary town in a dreary decade (the 70s, obviously; everyone knows the 70s were all brown crimplene, power-cuts, and diarrhoea-coloured wallpaper), the novel follows the misfortunes of mother and daughter Evelyn and Muriel Axon, hapless social worker Isabel Field and the Sidneys, a tenaciously unhappy couple trapped in a loveless marriage.
How are they linked, then? Well, Isabel is social worker to the mysteriously backward, lumpen Muriel Axon, unloved by her increasingly paranoid mother Evelyn, who believes the house to be plagued by poltergeists. Isabel is embroiled in a rather petty little affair with Colin Sidney, whose sister Florence lives next door to the Axons in the house in which she and Colin grew up. Simple enough on the surface. But if you've ever read Hilary Mantel's other books, you'll know that in her worlds, there is always something festering beneath the skin of respectability, always some awkward, sharp edges, always some pieces that don't quite fit.
Evelyn and Muriel, in particular, are an almost shockingly dysfunctional pair. Prisoners in their own miserable house, possibly (or not) haunted by mysterious 'tenants', one of whom may or may not be Muriel's deceased father who may or may not have - well, just take it from me that it's all horribly sinister, and that slackjawed Muriel, locked into a cycle of mutual torment and neglect with her unstable mother, is a creation of unsurpassed creepiness.
Spare a thought too, though, for Colin and Sylvia Sidney. If they ever loved each other, they certainly feel nothing for each other now, and Colin doesn't have much fondness for his spiteful, charmless children either. She continues to produce babies, he continues to sink into depression and takes evening classes for no reason other than to escape from her. Could he have a chance at happiness with Isabel? Well, this is Hilary Mantel we're talking about. She's not known for happy endings.
This book does have striking similarities with Mantel's later novel, Beyond Black - the same destructive, loveless co-dependencies, the same Turn Of The Screw style are-they-aren't-they ghosts. Every Day Is Mother's Day isn't quite as disturbing, but it's getting there.
Alternately funny, horrifying and desperately sad, filled with characters who are almost entirely weak and unpleasant but yet brilliantly vivid and appallingly plausible (oh, how much do I wish I could create characters as brilliant as these) Every Day Is Mother's Day creeps on towards its brilliantly bitter, petty little end. If this book were a film, it would be directed by Mike Leigh, written and acted by the League of Gentlemen and would maybe include a little sprinkling of Julia Davis. Read it, but prepare to be disturbed. And have a bath afterwards. It makes you feel kind of itchy.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
`Every day is Mother's Day' is the story of Evelyn and Muriel Axon, a mother and daughter who live a reclusive life in the house that Muriel was born. Evelyn has raised Muriel alone since the death of her husband, Clifford when Muriel was 6 years old, Clifford unfortunately saw Muriel as an `inconvenience' and not having any more children because it would `risk repetition'. Evelyn, not in the best of health will not accept help and when social services come into their lives, Evelyn finds that Muriel is changing, something which scares Evelyn, Muriel attends a community day care centre and life becomes worse when Evelyn discovers that Muriel is in fact pregnant and is unable (or unwilling) to tell Evelyn who the father is, Evelyn decides to keep the baby a secret and lock Muriel in their house.
Meanwhile, Isabel Field their latest social worker is having problems of her own, she is having an affair with a married man, Colin Sidney, his sister Florence is the Axons neighbour (unknown to Isabel) and she has also lost Muriel's file. Colin, Isabel, Florence, Muriel and Evelyn finds themselves coming together and no one knows what the outcome will be.
It's hard to describe `Every Day is Mother's Day' without giving too much away, it is full of dark humour, Evelyn's ideas are questionable, Muriel is manipulative, scary, not what she seems, Isabel and Colin, two very different people, I found it hard to believe why they would have an affair (which was the point), there is constant feeling of something about to happen, you find yourself becoming more and more suspicious of Muriel and despite Evelyn's actions, you do feel sorry for her and in some ways, you feel sorry for Muriel. There is also the paranormal aspect, what exactly is in the spare room? And what does Evelyn see?
The book also highlights how people can be missed, how sometimes the system does not work.
The ending is left open, there is more to come from Muriel.
Meanwhile, Isabel Field their latest social worker is having problems of her own, she is having an affair with a married man, Colin Sidney, his sister Florence is the Axons neighbour (unknown to Isabel) and she has also lost Muriel's file. Colin, Isabel, Florence, Muriel and Evelyn finds themselves coming together and no one knows what the outcome will be.
It's hard to describe `Every Day is Mother's Day' without giving too much away, it is full of dark humour, Evelyn's ideas are questionable, Muriel is manipulative, scary, not what she seems, Isabel and Colin, two very different people, I found it hard to believe why they would have an affair (which was the point), there is constant feeling of something about to happen, you find yourself becoming more and more suspicious of Muriel and despite Evelyn's actions, you do feel sorry for her and in some ways, you feel sorry for Muriel. There is also the paranormal aspect, what exactly is in the spare room? And what does Evelyn see?
The book also highlights how people can be missed, how sometimes the system does not work.
The ending is left open, there is more to come from Muriel.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A Scary Mother
I enyoyed this book immensely. I knew a little about the book, having watched an interview with the author, and having read 'Wolf Hall. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Carl Price
Miserable!
This was my first Hilary Mantel book, and it was a bit of a struggle to get into the flow of it. However, I kept going, and found enough enjoyment there to get me to the end... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Laura Smith
Every Day is Mother's Day
Have read Hilary Mantel book which follows this and rated it so highly, decided to research and found this forerunner. Complex, black and great writing.
Published 12 months ago by reneart
Everyday is Mothers Day
This authoress was highly recommended to me and it is the first work of her's I've read and it will probably be the last. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Super Granny
Superb
Brilliant, hilarious, bleak, black comedy. The evil shines through the humour. Love it.
Published on 29 Aug 2008 by M. Johnson
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