Hilary Mantel made dame

Published on 16/06/2014 by David Birkett

Not content with having snagged two Man Booker Prizes, numerous other prestigious literary awards and being a darned fine writer, Hilary Mantel has got herself awarded dame status. We congratulate Ms Mantel for this well-deserved recognition, for having popularised the historical figure of Thomas Cromwell and for her work with the Endometriosis SHE Trust. Although Mantels’ two most recent historical novels Wolf Hall and Bringing up the Bodies have elevated her from a literary favourite to a household name, we are eager to avoid forgetting her earlier work, including the darkly mischievous fable Fludd, in which a charismatic stranger visits a Northern English town which is mired in physical and spiritual gloom, and where powerful passions are waiting to stir.