A review by jonvarner
The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher by Hilary Mantel
3.0
Mantel's prose is usually evocative and a joy to read. But in a few of these stories, her tendencies toward the opaque and purple come out. At least one story here (the first and best) was originally published as a memoir, and others feel like they could be.
A cruelty bordering on misanthropy lurks underneath many of the others, untempered by the abundant dark humor and compassion of George Saunders. When the characters aren't middle class white Englishwomen, they feel written by one.
I anxiously await the third Cromwell book, as well as the day I decide to dive into A Place of Greater Safety. Maybe she needs more time and space then short stories allow for her humanity to come out.
A cruelty bordering on misanthropy lurks underneath many of the others, untempered by the abundant dark humor and compassion of George Saunders. When the characters aren't middle class white Englishwomen, they feel written by one.
I anxiously await the third Cromwell book, as well as the day I decide to dive into A Place of Greater Safety. Maybe she needs more time and space then short stories allow for her humanity to come out.