Every Day Is Mother's Day

Hilary Mantel is an exceptional writer and this book almost defies description. It is the story of Evelyn Axon who is a spiritualist who will bring back the spirits of the dead to speak to the living. Unfortunately, these spirits don't want to leave her house once they have been called and thus the house is virtually full of sly manipulative evil ghosts. Yet, it is Mantel's great strength that we are never sure if there are ghosts in the house or whether Evelyn Axon has completely lost her mind. Her half-witted daughter, Muriel, lives in the house also and requires the supervision of a social work agency. Muriel becomes pregnant while in a day school for the mentally retarded and once again we are unsure if the staff or other students may have gotten her pregnant or whether the evil spirits lingering in the upstairs bedrooms may have impregnated her. Muriel's social worker is a plain woman with limited expectations, Isabel Field, who is having an affair with a middle-aged loser of a fellow, Colin Sidney. The story gets very complicated from this point onward but the strength of the book is not how pathetic many of the characters are but rather the outstanding language and black humor that Mantel uses to paint these characters in these awkward situations. Her view of mankind as expressed in the book is bleakly realistic about the limitations and foolishness of the human experience. As I read about these pitiful characters struggling for a tiny bit of joy in their limited lives, I found myself laughing out loud rather than crying due to Mantel's exceptional literary skills. Is this existentialism disguised as a black humor horror story? Probably so. However it is Mantel's gift that you don't see her fingerprints as she hides the philosophical under the humor and horror.

Has she written a "bad" book? Not that I've read. This is not my normal cup of tea, but it's hard to say no to Mantel. The writing style, characterizations, plot - Al put her work on a higher plane.True, this was a thoroughly depressing story. But it's intended. Don't read it if you're looking for some light uplifting fare.I don't like to discuss plot in my reviews. I detest spoilers of any stripe and try not to give anything away. No, I'm not following that with a 'but'. I try to expose writing, originality, feeling. There are lots of great stories told by poor or mediocre writers. I don't have time for those. If rather read a decent story told by someone with a talent for telling them than the best plot ever told by a hack.This is the former - with a few twists. If you're a fan already of her work, pick it up. If you've never read her work, it could serve as an introduction, but rest assured, her later works are far better in terms of story. A nice way to spend a few hours.

I had no clue what to expect from this book based upon the title. I had a love/hate relationship with this one due in part to the strangeness of the story. I am certainly glad that I do not have anyone from this cast of characters living near me!The book is well written - held my interest and thus received 4 stars. I hesitated giving it the fifth star because I felt the ending just left me hanging! Too many unanswered questions here. I will not spoil your read by listing all the cliffhangers but beware - there are many!A puzzling read with three different story lines going at once but it is interesting to see them all converge at the end. Try this one and see what you think!

I'm giving it four stars because the writing is excellent and I couldn't put it down, but it really does deal in sordid and ugly goings-on. My advice is to read Mantel's book "Fludd" first, and if you love it, try this.

I am 41% through this novel and for the life of me, I have no idea what this book is about. Who are these people? Who's speaking? How are any of these storylines related? I don't know and frankly I don't care.I'm a heavy reader. I have a bachelor's degree in English for crying out loud. I don't expect to be spoon fed. But what I what I expect is coherence.I don't do this lightly but I am hereby giving up. I am abandoning this mess of a novel at 41%. Now maybe the headache I've developed from my furrowed brow will go away.

Les Petites Meurtres d'Agatha Christie, Set 1, a French TV series still in production, adapts the very English original stories and gives them a decidedly charming French twist. While the original basic story lines are recognizable, the talented writers, creative team and actors have adapted the old, familiar stories and substitute fresh, entertaining and essentially French charactets, plot elements and sensibilities. Anyone expecting the Gallic version of Joan Hickson and David Suchet will be (and deserve to be) disappointed. These stories are as enjoyable glass of excellent champagne. The scripts and performances are charming, funny, touching, a bit irreverent and a touch world-weary and cynical. The production values and look of the pieces, impeccable. What else would you expect from the French?

I read a lot of books. This was the second Hilary Mantel book I read. It was only second in weirdness to the first book of hers that I read. It really stayed with me after reading. But it was sooooo strange. I would recommend it to any serious reader. It certainly isn't fluff or just light entertainment.

An early Hilary Mantel, but has her touch stamped all over it. This novel was creepy and had me scared most of the way through it, but I was unable to put it down. Highly recommended if you like her style of writing.

One of the craftiest, cleverest black comedy novels you'll ever read. Sly, stilleto-sharp on the niceties (and not-so-niceties) of marriage, motherhood, and social work. With Mantel's characteristic supernatural tics and plot devices, but never seeking to pin down the ghostly butterflies with explanations, or to tie up their loose ends.Delicious, indulgent, unforgettable reading for adults with well-developed senses of black humour and socio-historical perspective - indignant 'woke' piety won't help you any in Mantel's worlds ;)

Every Day Is Mother’s Day is very dark and twisted but also very funny. I found myself reading the book with mounting horror. Surely someone would intervene and come to the rescue? The narrative is split between Evelyn / Muriel, Isabel and Colin so you get three different stories plus three viewpoints of the same events. This works really well. I enjoyed the book more when it was focused on the Axon’s and found Isabel and Colin’s sub-storylines distracting. I wanted to get back to what was happening with Evelyn and Muriel. So many questions aren’t answered. Who is the father of Muriel’s baby? Does Muriel really have learning problems or is this some elaborate scam? What really happened to Evelyn? What happened to Muriel’s baby? The biggest question is, why were Social Services so neglectful? There is a sequel, Vacant Possession that I also have so hopefully some of these will be answered.

Took a bit of getting into mainly due to the style of writing, not having read this author before. Usually a chapter is about a character, but this story chops and changes by sentence or paragraph. I also felt it was like reading someone's thoughts. It is a compelling tale though and I'm glad I persevered. Not sure who I'd recommend it to, but give it a try and see what you think.

I restarted this book twice as I just couldn't get into it. Sadly I've given up, not my type of book at all. Dull, confusing & really had to make myself try to keep reading it. I read a few reviews to see what others said & found out that there is a sequel! No thanks. Just glad I didn't waste any money on it.

Generally I adore Hilary Mantel whether in serious or comic mode but this story was unfunny, unbelievable and ultimately pointless. Maybe I missed something!