Beyond Black

I have just finished reading Hilary Mantel's Beyond Black. By any stretch of the imagination, this is an extraordinary book. On this occasion, though, I felt that the sustained brilliance and passion of the writing was not quite matched by the interest and power of the plot. With the benefit of hindsight, one could say that here was a writer waiting for a subject worthy of her immeasurable talent. In my opinion, she found that subject a few years later with and in Wolf Hall.