Hilary Mantel
Hilary Mantel
Dame Hilary Mary Mantel, DBE FRSL, is an English writer whose work includes personal memoirs, short stories, and historical fiction...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth6 July 1952
feminism
Feminism hasn't failed, it's just never been tried.
jokes
It is almost a joke, but a joke that nobody tells.
novelists chance historian
I only became a novelist because I thought I had missed my chance to become a historian.
protective polished has-beens
I am usually protective of my work, not showing it to anyone until it has been redrafted and polished.
medical mental-illness notes
Once you're labeled as mentally ill, and that's in your medical notes, then anything you say can be discounted as an artefact of your mental illness.
fascinates history
What fascinates me are the turning points where history could have been different.
anguished criticise establish flow says screen writer
The experienced writer says to the anguished novice: 'Just do it; get something, anything, on to the screen or page, just establish a flow of words, and criticise them later.' You give this advice but can't always take it.