Vacant Possession

At the end of Hilary Mantel’s first novel, “Every Day is Mother’s Day,” Muriel Axon is sent to a psychiatric institution after a series of unpleasant events that lead to the death of both her infant and her mother Evelyn. “Vacant Possession” takes place ten years later, and recounts Muriel’s time in the asylum and the period after her release, during which she hatches a complicated scheme to take revenge on the people whom Muriel blames for those deaths. Along the way, she takes on a variety of identities, including that as Lizzie Blank, the housekeeper for the Sidney family, who now live in the house Muriel and Evelyn used to share, and as “Poor Mrs. Wilmot,” a cleaner at the hospital where Isabel Field’s father is show more a patient. Isabel, as readers of the first book will remember, is the social-worker assigned to the Axons, who had an affair with Mr. Sidney. In “Vacant Possession” yet more connections between the Fields, the Axons, and the Sidneys are revealed. Indeed, coincidences run rampant in this book, and the tangled connections between the main characters go on and on. But never mind: the story is gripping and wickedly funny, and once again displays Ms. Mantel’s wonderful skills as an author. show less

I found this sequel to Every Day Is Mother's Day much better than the first novel: funnier, creepier, and more tightly plotted. Possibly this is because Muriel, by far the most interesting character, is the star of this novel. After years in a mental institution, where she received some education but learned more from her fellow patients, Muriel is ready to seek revenge and reclaim what she believes is rightfully hers. Mantel creates vivid characters (especially the "insane" ones), skewers conventional middle-class life, and toys with the definition of sanity in this dark, dark, comedy. Some may find her reliance on coincidence occasionally strains credulity, but for me this was an extremely enjoyable fable, and a fantasy, not a show more realistic representation of life. show less

Vacant Possession by Hilary Mantel - very Good

I really shouldn't put off writing down my thoughts on the books I read, it's been almost a month since I read this and I've read another 4 and a half since then. Nevertheless, this one has stuck with me.

Written back in 1986 well before the dizzy heights of Wolf Hall et al, this is a very strange little book. Bleakly, darkly funny and a little disturbing, the story centres around Murial Axon, newly released from an institution and hell bent on destroying those she blames for putting her there.

I'm trying not to put any spoilers in, but the characters we meet have all got more than just Murial in common and the story builds to a final denouement which leaves you wondering about many show more things.

This settles for me that Hilary Mantel is an author I need to backtrack on.

Definitely more than just a writer of historical fiction. show less

The blurb says this is full of dark humour. If so, then I’m afraid I must have lost my sense of humour. I found it full of unsympathetic characters about whom I could not care less. Disappointing, after I have enjoyed everything else I have read by this author.

Hilary Mantel is such an excellent writer. This one is about a bunch of relatively normal, screwed-up people and their neuroses, alcoholism, psychoses, peccadilloes, etc. Very British.

I admire HM's skill with the voices of her characters, the things they say to each other, distinctive, strongly flavoured, a good commentary. Read the book eagerly, but it left a bad taste. It couldn't finish well, but neither did it finish badly. It didn't finish at all, I would have preferred if it had.

I came to read this without any inkling the characters continued an earlier story by the author - nor did I find out until I'd finished it. An 80s period piece, with the occasional hint of themes the author revisited later in "Beyond Black".