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Vacant Possession

By: Hilary Mantel
Narrated by: Sandra Duncan
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Publisher's Summary

From the double Man Booker Prize-winner, a savagely funny tale that revisits the characters from the much-loved Every Day is Mother’s Day.

Muriel Axon is about to re-enter the lives of Colin Sidney and Isabel Field. It is 10 years since her last tangle with them, but for Muriel this is not time enough. There are still scores to be settled, truths to be faced and vengeance to be wreaked.

©1986 Hilary Mantel (P)2013 W F Howes Ltd

Critic Reviews

"The macabre and wonderfully funny plot has as many twists and turns as a well-made thriller" ( Standard)
"Hilary Mantel's wit is wonderful and startlingly nasty" ( Sunday Times)

What listeners say about Vacant Possession

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Fantastically macabre

This isn’t black comedy; it’s the unsettling silliness of deeply dark human experiences. Mandel somehow taps into what soulless human existence really looks and feels like, and it’s uncomfortable, with moments of levity. Completely unique.

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  • Overall
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Not that funny, really

It was a fairly well told story and I got an occasional giggle, but I was left feeling sad and disconcerted at the end. Would not describe it as black humour. Nothing funny about the situation, particularly at the end. I'm still tossing up whether I liked it or I hated it ...

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