Mantel Pieces: The New Book from The Sunday Times Best Selling Author of the Wolf Hall Trilogy

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From her unforgettable description of Diana’s wedding dress unfolding from the bridal coach “like ectoplasm from the orifices of a medium”, to her gleeful account of how she herself stared at the Queen during an evening party at Buckingham Palace “as a cannibal views his dinner, my gaze sharp enough to pick the meat off her bones”, Mantel is in the business of undercutting that enemy of intelligence, “the faculty of awe”.

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My lack of historical knowledge hampered my appreciation of some of the essays, but even when I didn’t know much about the references I still couldn’t help admire her thinking. We know that in this film we are seeing the real Madonna - for we know from her other films that she cannot act”. The essays that stand out all focus on the pain of women - the manipulation of their bodies, their minds, their legacies - and it's through this lens that the book is at its most interesting. In short, Mantelpieces is - mostly - a delight to read, but something to dip into, not to be read at one sitting! The older Mantel is still sardonic but much less mean-spirited, and she almost always manages to mine interesting insights from the biographies of people I either didn't know or wasn't especially interested in before.

I love the organic shapes and texture that these pieces bring to the design, it helps to balance out all of the harder elements used for decor. What links these books is an attention to monarchy, courts and the workings of power, as well as an interest in issues of gender - and we find these concerns echoed in Mantel's writings for LRB, largely in the form of extended book reviews that follow that publication's review-as-essay format.

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Mantel’s underappreciated novel Beyond Black (2005) has another wounded but potent medium as its main character. If yourmantelis covered in shiplap or has intricate wood detailing, you don't need a whole lot to dress it up.

Grab those portraits and lean them on the mantel top—then ask guests to make up a story about each individual when they come over.

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Consider this a reason to go ahead and book that warm-weather vacation: One of the prettiest accent pieces can actually be found while strolling alongside the shore. There's no need to limit displaying colorful cups and saucers to the kitchen when they can bring lots of life to the living room! The reviews themselves are also only occasionally interesting and are really sub-par as far as reviews go. You could even set clocks to different time zones if you're looking to get creative (or just keep tabs on your favorite cities across the globe).Mantel Pieces: Royal Bodies and Other Writing from the London Review of Books' blew my preconceptions right out of the literary water. To prevent dark fireplace mantelpiece ideas becoming flat add a boost of freshness with foliage and flashes of green in artwork and candles. Rather than grouping stems together in one large vase, opt for smaller jars and create a sunny display on the mantel that is sure to brighten everyone in your household's day. I wasn’t particularly interested in the subjects of Mantel’s LRB articles, but I was intrigued by her correspondence with the editor, from handwritten letters to faxes to e-mails.

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There's no reason that our favorite china has to hide away in our kitchen cabinets and only see the light of day once a year—let it become a permanent part of your home with this simple solution.Laura Higgins is a freelance journalist who has had a career within the magazine industry for twenty years. I will never read most of the twenty books that make up the substance of Mantel Pieces but that doesn’t matter.