On the 22nd of September, British novelist Dame Hilary Mantel died aged 70. She was best known for her novels on Thomas Cromwell. But, Mantel wrote several short stories, essays and memoirs too. Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy still wins awards despite finishing in 2020. Let’s find out more about the best-selling author behind it.
Where did she begin?
Mantel grew up in Derbyshire and Cheshire. She attended the University of Sheffield and graduated as. Bachelor of Jurisprudence. A keen novelist, she began writing her first book in 1974. It became a published work in 1992.
Her first published work was Every Day is Mother’s Day, which still receives critical acclaim to this day. In her early work, Mantel often drew on her own experiences to inspire her writing. Every Day is Mother’s Day captures Mantel’s work in a geriatric hospital.
Her novel Eight Months on Ghazzah Street draws on her experiences living in Saudi Arabia. She often wrote memoirs on her time there for The Spectator. Mantel released several books during this period, most with a connection to her personal life.
Mantel’s critical success
It was 2009 that Mantel received overwhelming critical acclaim. Her novel, Wolf Hall, was published. Wolf Hall tells the story of Thomas Cromwell, the chief minister to King Henry VIII. The book is a historical novel, and is one of the greatest historical novels of all time.
Mantel spent five years researching the history of Thomas Cromwell in order to create Wolf Hall. It certainly paid off. The year it debuted it won the Booker Prize. The Booker Prize is a prestigious award in the literary community. Wolf Hall has won several awards since then.
The success of this book led to Mantel writing two more, rounding off her Thomas Cromwell trilogy. The second book, Bring Up the Bodies, and the third, The Mirror and the Light, are both fantastic books too. The second book has won the Booker Prize. The third was also on the shortlist for the 2020 Women’s Prize for Fiction.
Mantel’s work will be forever remembered in the literary community. She too will be remembered as a pioneer in fiction.