''Every Day is Mother's Day'' is the first novel by British author

Hilary Mantel Dame Hilary Mary Mantel ( ; born Thompson; 6 July 1952 – 22 September 2022) was a British writer whose work includes historical fiction, personal memoirs and short stories. Her first published novel, ''Every Day Is Mother's Day'', was releas ...

, published in 1985 by

Chatto and Windus Chatto & Windus is an imprint of Penguin Random House that was formerly an independent book publishing company founded in London in 1855 by John Camden Hotten. Following Hotten's death, the firm would reorganize under the names of his business ...

. It was inspired in part by Hilary Mantel's own experiences as a social work assistant at a geriatric hospital which involved visits to patients in the community and access to

case notes The terms medical record, health record and medical chart are used somewhat interchangeably to describe the systematic documentation of a single patient's medical history and care across time within one particular health care provider's jurisdic ...

, the loss of which play an important part in the novel.

Plot introduction

It is a

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

set in the mid-1970s and begins with the widowed

spiritualist Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century The ''long nineteenth century'' i ...

Evelyn Axon's discovery that her mentally-handicapped daughter Muriel is pregnant. Isabel Field is the latest

social worker Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

to tackle the Axons but Evelyn is determined not to let anyone interfere with Muriel, whose condition she blames on her daughter's recent weekly visits to a daycare centre. Isabel Field herself is having an affair with the brother of Evelyn's neighbour and the story of this relationship is interwoven with that of Evelyn and Muriel's and the birth of the baby... The story is continued in Hilary Mantel's next novel ''

Vacant Possession Vacant possession is a property law concept. Vacant possession refers to the typical condition in which a seller must hand over a property to a buyer upon completion, or a tenant must return the property to a landlord at the end of a lease. In s ...

''.

Publication history

Source:www.fantasticfiction.co.uk
/ref> * 1985, UK, Chatto & Windus, , hardback * 1986, UK, Penguin, , paperback * 2000, US, Owl, , Pub. date 15 Mar 2000, paperback * 2001, UK, Chivers, , Pub. date Jun 2001, large print * 2006, UK, Harper Perennial, , Pub. date 16 Jan 2006, paperback * 2010, US, Picador, , Pub. date 31 Aug 2010, paperback

References

External links

at '' complete review'' {{Hilary Mantel 1985 British novels 1985 debut novels Black comedy books Chatto & Windus books English novels Fiction set in the 1970s Novels by Hilary Mantel