*Please note this review contains spoilers*

I’ve always loved short story collections – especially when I’m not sure what to turn to next. Mantel’s collection crossed time and space. There are ghosts, death, disease, and reimaged history. In particular “Winter Break” and “The Heart Fails Without Warning” were disturbing and stayed in my mind for days after reading them. “Winter Break” is a perfect example of how an author can both shock a reader even when all the warning signs were there. I knew they had hit a child – why else the mention of goats and kids? Why else the talk of her husband’s dislike of children? But the last line still takes your breath away.

“The Heart Fails Without Warning” is a heartbreaker about the toll of mental health struggles on everyone – and how often we turn to anger to cover our worry or shame. “Terminus” brings Mantel back to her writerly interest in ghosts and left me with a description of sandwiches in open coolers as “embalmed meals” that will, unfortunately, follow me around every train station and airport because of its accuracy.

The finale however is, of course, The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher and I still remember the great drama in the UK press when the book was released. As if Mantel was somehow bringing Thatcher back to life (she died in 2013 and the book was released in 2014) to assassinate her publicly. I was engaged with it and will probably go back and reread it again soon, but I got chills at the reference to the hidden staircase… what a perfect reference for a historical reimaging. I immediately thought of the princes in the tower and their disappearance but I’m sure there are a dozen other stories from history or myths about disappearing staircases and escaped murderers. 

Hilary Mantel is not a writer you turn to when you are looking for an easy escape – she gets under your skin, into your bones, she can reset your thinking and leave you with lines you’ll carry around (I can only imagine how much I’ll enjoy the next “embalmed” sandwich I have to eat on the train). But if you want a surprise, something to think about, something to shake you up a little – she’s always a good choice.