I'm finally back. I couldn't leave my books any longer. I have a few still staring at me from the bookcase wondering when it's their turn to be read, and my wishlist is getting longer. So I'm back in business with this book by Hilary Mantel Beyond Black. This is the first book I've read by her, consciously leaving Wolf Hall for another time.
I wish I could say that I'm happy I did, but I don't think I am. Unless Beyond Black shows me what is yet to come in her writing. She has a very confusing writing style, bearing in mind though that this might be because of the subject of the book. It's about Alison Hart, who is a medium. She tours through England while performing on stage and giving readings. She always has two companions with her; Morris her spirit guide, an annoying who's stalking her with villains who abused her and her abusive mother in the past and Colette, a desperate woman who has fled her husband to find another life for herself. No one else can see the spirits she sees though.
The book, as expected, revolves mostly around Alison and the spirits that stalk her, but the point-of-view switches in between passages from Alison to Colette. I think what Hilary Mantel was aiming to do in this book, was to show the world what it is like to be a writer; talking to your characters that no one else can see in the dark recesses of your house to write a successful novel. This is unfortunately not my own thought about the book, because I had to read the interview in the back to find out what it was about. I didn't think the book flowed smoothly enough to be entertaining and all too often I had to leaf back to see if we were in the past future or spirit world. However, it's not her most acclaimed book, I'll start on Wolf Hall soon but not just yet.
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