Author: mantel, hilary (Keywords)

Charles O'Brien, bard and giant. The cynical are moved by his flights of romance, the craven stirred by his tales of epic deeds. But what of his own story as he is led from Ireland to seek his fortune beyond the sea in England?

Evelyn Axon is a medium by trade. Her daughter Muriel is a half-wit by nature. Barricaded in their crumbling house, they defy the curiosity of their neighbours and their social worker. Then a horrible secret comes to light.

In the wake of Hilary Mantel's captivating memoir, 'Giving Up The Ghost', this collection of loosely autobiographical stories locates the transforming moments of a haunted childhood.

In the wake of Hilary Mantel's captivating memoir, 'Giving Up The Ghost', this collection of loosely autobiographical stories locates the transforming moments of a haunted childhood.

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.

Muriel Axon is about to re-enter the lives of Colin Sidney, hapless husband, father & schoolmaster, and Isabel Field, failed social worker & practising neurotic. It is ten years since her last tangle with them. There are still scores to be settled & truths to be faced.

Georges-Jacques Danton: zealous, energetic and debt-ridden. Maximilien Robespierre: small, diligent and terrified of violence. And Camille Desmoulins: a genius of rhetoric, charming and handsome, yet also erratic and untrustworthy. As these young men, key figures of the French Revolution, taste t...