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Book Synopsis

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 Manc

Learning to Talk

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    A Hardback by Hilary Mantel

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      Book details

      Publisher Henry Holt & Company
      Published 21 June 2022
      ISBN-13 9781250865366
      978-1250865366
      ISBN-10 1250865360

      Description

      Book Synopsis

      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 Manc

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