All the essays in this collection—with the exception of three autobiographical sketches and "Royal Bodies," about Kate Middleton and other royal wives—are ostensibly book reviews, though it becomes increasingly rare that Mantel spends more than a few lines actually addressing the merits or flaws of the books in question. Our range of solid oak beam fireplaces and mantelpieces have been hand worked by our skilled team and are available in a massive range of sizes. A selection of book reviews mostly, particularly on Tudor subjects, and one or two more personal pieces are included, every one of them fascinating.

We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Her thoughts about suffering and female powerlessness coalesce in “Britain’s Last Witch”, an examination of the career of the medium Helen Duncan, known as “ Hellish Nell” – who was convicted in 1944 under the 1735 Witchcraft Act – and what it has to tell us about the “damaging disjunction between middle-class ideals of femininity and the reality of working women’s lives”.Think clean lines, natural materials, and organic shapes, in a range of muted tones - olive green is my go-to hue at the moment,’ says Sam Baldry, Head of Design at Swoon.

When it comes to building character in a room, there's nothing more dramatic than a well-designed fireplace. With antique and traditional features, Chesneys have collated a range of ornamental fire surrounds, which are able to enhance or add historical structure to your home.Bring Up the Bodies, Book Two of the Wolf Hall Trilogy, was also awarded the Man Booker Prize and the Costa Book Award. My favourites essays were the brilliant Royal Bodies, In Bed with Madonna and The Secrets of Margaret Pole.

Gaudens designed and carved magnificent mantels, some of which can be found on display in the world's great museums. Unfinished wood always adds a rustic quality to a room, so a chunky wooden shelf used as a mantel will instantly give your fireplace a warm feel. But she also argues persuasively that the ageing and increasingly irascible king fits the picture for McLeod syndrome, the symptoms of which include progressive muscular weakness in the lower body, depression, paranoia, and an erosion of personality – which would make the tragedy of his reign “not a moral but a biological tragedy, inscribed on the body”. Her subjects range far and Robespierre and Danton, the Hite report, Saudi Arabia where she lived for four years in the 1980s, the Bulger case, John Osborne, the Virgin Mary as well as the pop icon Madonna, a brilliant examination of Helen Duncan, Britain’s last witch. Whether you’re a maximalist or minimalist, mantelscaping is all about curating a collection of things that bring colour, texture and showcase your favourite things,’ says Daisy Coombes, Interior Design Manager at Sass and Belle.Mix different sized frames with black and white and coloured prints to emphasise the eclectic blend of styles, and add a few objects, like a vase or floral display, to break up the linear feel. Above all, I think, I love Mantel's ability to take her work seriously without losing her acute sense of humour - her mischievous and impish takes are everywhere. She is the author of fifteen books, including A Place of Greater Safety, Beyond Black, and the memoir Giving Up the Ghost. the pieces I liked best, though, were the pieces that stray slightly away from the scholarly path to deal in the stuff of life: the similarly titled "Meeting my Stepfather" and "Meeting the Devil" (not actually about the occult, but about Mantel's lucidly addled experience of illness - at one point she quite delightfully refers to the images she sees as "hallies"; they have, clearly, become a friend). The reviews are put into a wider historical and ethical background and you get an excellent feel of each book and the subject matter.