Vacant Possession
Encyclopedia
Vacant Possession is also the title to a second novel by British author Hilary Mantel
, first published in 1986 by Chatto and Windus
. It continues the story from her first novel Every Day is Mother's Day
and is set some ten years later with the same cast of characters.
program seeks revenge on those whom she blames for putting her there; Isabel Field her social worker, now unhappily married to an assistant bank manager; Isabel's father who it transpires was the father of Muriel's baby; Colin Sidney who now lives in Muriel's old house and whose daughter is now pregnant by Isabel's husband. Muriel has developed a skill at mimicry and is a master of disguise and manages to infiltrate Colin and Isabel's families with tragic results.
Despite its dark themes the book manages to bring a lot of comedy into these apparently dark situations...
Hilary Mantel
Hilary Mary Mantel CBE , née Thompson, is an English novelist, short story writer and critic. Her work, ranging in subject from personal memoir to historical fiction, has been short-listed for major literary awards...
, first published in 1986 by Chatto and Windus
Chatto and Windus
Chatto & Windus has been, since 1987, an imprint of Random House, publishers. It was originally an important publisher of books in London, founded in the Victorian era....
. It continues the story from her first novel Every Day is Mother's Day
Every Day is Mother's Day
Every Day is Mother's Day is the first novel by British author Hilary Mantel, published in 1985 by Chatto and Windus. It was inspired in part by Hilary Mantel's own experiences as a social work assistant at a geriatric hospital which involved visits to patients in the community and access to case...
and is set some ten years later with the same cast of characters.
The Novel
Muriel Axon has been released from a mental institution under the Care in the CommunityCare in the Community
Care in the Community is the British policy of deinstitutionalization, treating and caring for physically and mentally disabled people in their homes rather than in an institution...
program seeks revenge on those whom she blames for putting her there; Isabel Field her social worker, now unhappily married to an assistant bank manager; Isabel's father who it transpires was the father of Muriel's baby; Colin Sidney who now lives in Muriel's old house and whose daughter is now pregnant by Isabel's husband. Muriel has developed a skill at mimicry and is a master of disguise and manages to infiltrate Colin and Isabel's families with tragic results.
Despite its dark themes the book manages to bring a lot of comedy into these apparently dark situations...
External links
- http://www.complete-review.com/reviews/mantelh/vacantp.htm
- http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/bookdescription.authors/723125/description#description