A Change of Climate

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View books by Hilary Mantel.

masterpiece - Rated
I am not a huge fan of Hilary Mantel. I find much of her work parasitical on Muriel Spark, for a start. But this is in my opinion one of the great novels of the late 20th century. It is set in two worlds, and she has mastered the details of both. (Two details remain in my mind: the description of the sitting posture of the Afrikaner policeman, and the mad Norfolk mother who knitted her son's trousers -- if you know Norfolk, you'll recognize her.)

Well written, but depressing - Rated
A friend allowed me to borrow this book and if I had realised it was written by Hilary Mantel, I wouldn't have bothered reading it as I have given up with her novels in the past. Yes, it is exceptionally well written and the narrative which moves between Africa and Norfolk is interesting, but I did find the daily life of a middle class family somewhat predictable. And the book is SOOO depressing! Not recommended unless you have to read it for educational or study purposes.

Thoughtful family saga evoking a climate of change. - Rated
When asked, rhetorically, by his sister, "Whatever happened to the dinosaurs?", Ralph, the main character responds, "Their habitat altered...A change of climate." In rebellion against his parents, their closed, religiously fundamentalist point of view, and his father's financial blackmailing regarding his career choices,Ralph intentionally changes his physical habitat and his climate by escaping to South Africa with his bride.

Working as a lay person at a mission and vigorously opposing apartheid, Ralph and Anna, not surprisingly, run afoul of the authorities and are exposed to the savagery which creates a permanent and terrible climate in their marriage. They discover that such savagery is not limited to one race as they had previously supposed. As the story bounces from the present in England back twenty years to Africa, the reader lives through the vivid and terrible African experiences and simultaneously sees how these traumas have permeated the lives of these good, but often naïve, people. As Ralph's uncle James points out, "There is nothing so appallingly hard...as the business of being human."

As James grows and eventually embraces life, Anna remains emotionally closed, despite her good deeds, fearful that she "should lose everything, one of these days." As the events resolve themselves and the "competition in goodness" comes to an end, we see real humans trying to put aside the petrified past and to change the climate of their lives. With immense sympathy Mantel creates imperfect characters who try to lead good lives, with varying degrees of success. Mary Whipple

Wonderful prose, believable characters - Rated
This heart-rending story could have been very depressing and desolate. However, I came out of it, if not uplifted, at least not feeling unhappy. My main quibble was the ending. It wasn't too clear what had happened, and I would have liked to have been certain of the fate of the central married couple. I liked the spare yet fully-rounded style and the strange switches between characters as the focus of the story, while disorientating, were effective. I wished I had started reading her sooner.

Lyrical and heartfelt - Rated
Hilary Mantel is a brilliant writer. She gets so deep into the lives of her characters and makes an ordinary life seem fascinating and full of mystery. As with 8 months on Ghazza Street there is quite a lot of suspense in this book that builds up nicely as the family secrets are slowly revealed. The ending is sad but very true.