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  • Giving Up the Ghost

  • A Memoir
  • By: Hilary Mantel
  • Narrated by: Jane Wymark
  • Length: 6 hrs and 49 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (314 ratings)
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Giving Up the Ghost cover art

Giving Up the Ghost

By: Hilary Mantel
Narrated by: Jane Wymark
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Summary

Opening with "A Second Home", in which Mantel describes the death of her stepfather, Giving Up the Ghost is a wry, shocking, and beautifully written memoir of childhood, ghosts (real and metaphorical), illness, and family. Finally, at the memoir's conclusion, Mantel explains how a series of medical misunderstandings and neglect left her childless, and how the ghosts of the unborn have come to haunt her life as a writer.

©2003 Hilary Mantel (P)2012 W F Howes Ltd

What listeners say about Giving Up the Ghost

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A stunningly crafted memoir

An often painful listen as Hilary Mantel describes a life determined by her parents' separation and life with a stepfather and then by what can only be called medical negligence and bad practice, a state of affairs not uncommon in the 60s and 70s, channelling her into the superb writer she has become. Woven through is also the sense that the boundaries between worlds and people are not as solid for her as they are for most of us. Beautifully structured and written. Highly recommended.

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14 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Brilliant and moving !

This is a brilliant memoir from Hilary Mantel. On a personal note I can relate to her struggles very closely and there is much hope within the pages too. What an interesting and fascinating life. The narration is superb and I will definitely re-listen.

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8 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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A Remarkable Book

Loved this book. The Author has not forgotten what it is like to be child. She writes so well about her observations and understandings as a child while practicing the art of behaving as adults expect. Parts are funny. Her medical history is appalling and arouses enormous sympathy. Although she takes some responsibility on herself for the lack of diagnosis she really shouldn't. However, if she hadn't suffered so much we may not have had the wonderful author of to day but have been admiring from afar a very able barrister! Many more lives are touched as a result of her shaming medical treatment.

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8 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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Moving, sad, insightful. Mantel at her best.

A deeply moving memoir. The crisp insights are rich and rewarding. Beautiful narrator, such an amazing actor. Jayne Wymark is excellent.

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5 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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A different kind of memoir

This was as close to being inside the mind of Hilary Mantel as you can get and I loved every minute. I'm just sad it was so short.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Genius

I've just spent almost two days in her presence. So grateful to listen to her voice (albeit filtered slightly by Jane Wymark) and to have been given such glimpses into her world, her life. A treat and an honour. Now what? I'll have to resort to chocolate.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Acerbic but nice

What did you like most about Giving Up the Ghost?

The author's fiercely loud and beautiful use of words. They fight brilliantly with and for a hard life.

What did you like best about this story?

It is a prismatic, not " true" version of a life in depth..but of enormous value in breaking the ice in the ocean surrounding one's own life.

Who might you have cast as narrator instead of Jane Wymark?

Sorry, but it is over acted..a terrible no, no in a memoir of significance. The person who read Mantel's short stories was more realistic in her approach.

Any additional comments?

Listen to this and enjoy.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Performance

Wymark deserves every one of the five stars. Some readers can be very flat. Mantel’s memory and unflinching storybis a thing of wonder

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Childlessness

HM tells her story with great feeling and style. It is remarkable not least of all for its focus and for what she doesn't say.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Cheerfully sad

One often reads about the suffering of a genius. While it is difficult to hear the story of Hilary Mantel's suffering, she is clearly a genius. Her childhood is beautifully and cleverly told and the narrator is particularly excellent at this. It was a lovely ending too. I've never read any of her novels but am a fan now and have already purchased Wolf Hall.

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1 person found this helpful