''Vacant Possession'' is the title of the second 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 ...

, first published in 1986 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 continues the story from her

first novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...

Every Day is Mother's Day ''Every Day is Mother's Day'' is the first novel by British author Hilary Mantel, published in 1985 by Chatto and Windus. It was inspired in part by Hilary Mantel's own experiences as a social work assistant at a geriatric hospital which involve ...

'' and is set some ten years later with the same cast of characters.

The novel

Muriel Axon has been released from a mental institution under the

Care in the Community Care in the Community (also called "Community Care" or "Domiciliary Care") is a British policy of deinstitutionalisation, treating and caring for physically and mentally disabled people in their homes rather than in an institution. Institutional ca ...

programme and seeks revenge on those whom she blames for putting her there – Isabel Field her social worker, now unhappily married to an assistant bank manager, Isabel's father who it transpires was the father of Muriel's baby, and Colin Sidney who now lives in Muriel's old house and whose daughter is now pregnant by Isabel's husband. Muriel, who has developed a skill at mimicry and is a master of disguise, manages to infiltrate Colin and Isabel's families with tragic results. Despite its dark themes the book manages to bring a lot of comedy into these apparently dark situations.

Notes

External links

* http://www.complete-review.com/reviews/mantelh/vacantp.htm * http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/bookdescription.authors/723125/description#description {{Authority control 1986 British novels English novels Black comedy books Novels by Hilary Mantel Sequel novels Chatto & Windus books