A dazzling collection of short stories from the two-time winner of the
Booker Prize and #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Wolf
Hall trilogy.
In the wake of Hilary Mantel's brilliant conclusion to her award-winning
Wolf Hall trilogy, Learning to Talk is a collection of loosely
autobiographical stories that locates the transforming moments of a
haunted childhood.
Absorbing and evocative, these drawn-from-life stories begin in the
1950s in an insular northern village "scoured by bitter winds and rough
gossip tongues." For the young narrator, the only way to survive is to
get up, get on, get out. In "King Billy Is a Gentleman," the child must
come to terms with the loss of a father and the puzzle of a fading Irish
heritage. "Curved Is the Line of Beauty**"** is a story of friendship,
faith and a near-disaster in a scrap-yard. The title story sees our
narrator ironing out her northern vowels with the help of an ex-actress
with one lung and a Manchester accent. In "Third Floor Rising, " she
watches, amazed, as her mother carves out a stylish new identity.
With a deceptively light touch, Mantel illuminates the poignant
experiences of childhood that leave each of us forever changed.
"A book of her short stories is like a little sweet treat...Mantel's
narrators never tell everything they know, and that's why they're worth
listening to, carefully." --USA Today
"Her short stories always recognize other potential realities...Even
the most straightforward of Mantel's tales retain a faintly otherworldly
air." --The Washington Post
