Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel

[Weave]

Title of book: Beyond Black

 

Name of author: Hilary Mantel

 

ISBN Numbers: 0007268378/978-0007268375

 

Number of pages: 480 pages

 

 

Synopsis ~

 

From the Harper Perennial Collection edition ~

 

Alison Hart, a medium by trade, tours the dormitory towns of London’s orbital road with her flint-hearted sidekick Colette passing on messages from dead ancestors. But behind her plump, smiling persona is a desperate woman: the next life holds terror that she must conceal from her clients, and her own waking hours are plagued by the spirits of men from her past. They infiltrate her house, her body and her soul, and the more she tries to be rid of them, the stronger and nastier they become...

 

‘Beyond Black’ is the story of Alison Hart, a pleasant and happy woman, who is psychic, she travels around various places passing messages to relatives, on her travels she meets Colette, a strong and recently independent woman who believes she may be psychic but is also skeptical of Alison at the same time. Alison offers Colette a job as her assistant, which Colette accepts and so begins their partnership of 7 years, where Colette slowly realises that there is more than meets the eye to Alison, that Alison understands this world and the next better than anyone.

 

‘Beyond Black’ is a book that scared me on different levels but it also changed my views on psychics and the world of spirit, I have always thought of them with some trepidation, ‘Beyond Black’ will make you think.

 

Alison Hart, the main character is a well written and complex character, she has accepted her life as a psychic but at the same time she is struggling with her own demons, mainly the spirits of the men from her past who tormented her in life and continue to do so from the spirit world, one of them unfortunately, is her spirit guide, who Alison has tried and failed to get rid of over the years, his name his Morris and he will make your skin crawl.

 

Colette, Alison’s assistant and eventual business partner is the opposite to Alison in every way, some of the opposites are more obvious than others, she struggles to believe in Alison, she sees Alison as purely business, she has found a corner in the market (so to speak) and uses it.

 

‘Beyond Black’ is not only a ghost story, it’s the story of Alison, a woman who has suffered for most of her life but helps others as best as she can, she does know the tricks of the trade but she suffers terribly because of her predictions and of course, Morris, who never leaves her alone. Alison sets on a journey in ‘Beyond Black’, she faces her past, her uncaring mother and her mother’s harsh and cruel way of life.

 

Alison is a great character, she is honest and caring, she knows she has flaws which she lives with, one of her flaws unfortunately for me was Colette!, who I thought was just plain mean, she had nothing nice to say to Colette and questioned everything that Alison did, leaving Alison to question herself and her way of life, which I felt was unfair but despite that Colette is a major part of the story, she has her own flaws and her own weakness which come to light as the story progresses, Colette is fierce and assertive but she is not perfect, far from it.

 

As mentioned, parts of the book did scare me, especially Morris and his gang, the men from Alison’s past, a past that she did not deserve.

 

A well thought, complex and intriguing story.

 

Rating: 8/10

[Fi.]

Great review Paula

 

I absolutely loved this book when I read it a couple of years ago but for some reason it took me forever to get into it, glad I persevered with it though because, as you said, it really is a very complex & intriguing story.

[lexiepiper]

This sounds really interesting! I'm def adding to my wishlist

[pickle]

I read it some time ago, and although it is a good book, I am not sure I can say that I liked it. It was interesting but it wasn't a comfortable read by any means.

[mirandashell]

I found it a very ... odd book. It didn't seem to settle into a rhythm for me. Bits were silly, bits were gory and other bits were unsettling. There were one or two scenes that I had to skip as they were too upsetting to read.

 

A very strange and unsettling book for me.

[chesilbeach]

I didn't enjoy it at all. I found it a very disconcerting read, but unlike Notes On A Scandal by Zoe Heller, which although was similarly uncomfortable to read it was very well written, but with Beyond Black I had no sympathy, empathy or engagement with any of the characters, didn't find the world of the medium interesting, and the settings felt false, staged and unrealistic to me. It's put me off reading any more of her work at all.

[Weave]

Thanks for your thoughts everyone

[chesilbeach]

It doesn't even seem like a love it or hate it book, does it Paula? Everyone seems to like or dislike it in varying degrees - a real oddity

[Weave]

It doesn't even seem like a love it or hate it book, does it Paula? Everyone seems to like or dislike it in varying degrees - a real oddity

 

I agree Chesil very much so, after I read it, I just thought, 'its a love or hate it book' its a strange book and as you all know I enjoyed it but I could see aspects that some people would not like, you know?