Learning To Talk by Hilary Mantel

 

This is an anthology of Hilary Mantel stories.  Like everything she writes, each story is a gem, a pearl of great value.  In the title story, a girl relates her childhood through the lessons she took to lose her accent so that she could rise in society as an adult.  Another story tells of a girl's last summer at home and her work in a department store where her mother also works; a mother who had been frumpy and at home and who reinvented herself as a gorgeous fashion plate who rises in management.

The first story tells of a father who disappears and the man who moves in and takes over, terrorizing the family.  Another story tells of a girl's friendship and how it feels to be lost in the days before GPS and when nature was still right there and quite wild.  It also talks about adult friendships.

Hilary Mantel is known as one of England's best authors.  She is best known for her trilogy about Thomas Cromwell, two of which won the Booker Prize.  But her craftmanship and ability to portray human interactions shines in everything she writes.  She is a master of the short story, longer novels and historical fiction.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.