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

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Many of these articles revolve around the French Revolution and the Tudors, which were the focus of some of Mantel's own novels. And speak she does, with passion and eloquence, not just about the ills of our bodily existence, but about the one beyond. Choose tactile materials, such as earthenware with an unfinished quality, or an alternative art piece made with feathers. a b c d e f g One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Spiers, Richard Phené (1911). Virginia Woolf once complained about the ‘poverty of the language’ we have to describe physical illness.

Mantels are the ideal place to show off any collections you have or a place to display all of those trinkets that make you smile and enjoy seeing every day. An alternative to wood that will still create that rustic feel are stone fireplace ideas, which bring a farmhouse vibe to a space.

Mirrors work just as well, and will help create a spacious, airy illusion by bouncing back the light. 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. The absence of mantelpieces in post-war British homes leaves a big question mark in the room: the top of the telly and the ornamental shelf step into the breach because we still crave that single, defining horizontal display space.

With antique and traditional features, Chesneys have collated a range of ornamental fire surrounds, which are able to enhance or add historical structure to your home.But, there is something for everyone here: Britain’s Last Witch, on Devotion to the Blessed Mary and the still indigestible murder of James Bulger. Or create clusters of items, creating interest with differing scales and layers, placing them in a haphazard display, rather than in a line. So if you did relish the masterworks, you'll get a satisfying top-up here, with additional coverage of Tudors and Jacobins and other characters of less prominence but much interest.

In 1987, when Hilary Mantel was first published in the London Review of Books, she wrote to the editor, Karl Miller, ‘I have no critical training whatsoever, so I am forced to be more brisk and breezy than scholarly. No matter if you plan on installing a new fire, or are making a few home improvements, whatever design you choose you'll want to ensure you do your fireplace justice. Watching her mind at work, pondering all manner of subjects from monarchy to witchcraft, was awe-inspiring. In 1987, when Hilary Mantel was first published in the London Review of Books, she wrote to the editor, Karl Miller, 'I have no critical training whatsoever, so I am forced to be more brisk and breezy than scholarly. Each review is prefaced by some communication, a letter, postcard, fax or e-mail between Mantel and her editor, Mary-Kay Wilmers, which gives insight into her procedures, apprehensions, regrets and plans surrounding the reviews.Her thoughts about suffering and female powerlessness coalesce in “Britain’s Last Witch”, an examination of the career of the medium Helen Duncan, known as “ Hellish Nell” – who was convicted in 1944 under the 1735 Witchcraft Act – and what it has to tell us about the “damaging disjunction between middle-class ideals of femininity and the reality of working women’s lives”.

Marie Antoinette as a royal consort was a gliding, smiling disaster, much like Diana in another time and another country.

Maybe you need to re-read her for precisely this reason; Mantel loves hidden meanings and her talent matches her enthusiasm for making them. Popular brands including Adam, Inglenook, Gallery and Stovax can help you achieve the look you desire. When planning your mantelscape, opt for accessories with a common colour thread or pattern to create a cohesive look, whether that’s tonal or one colour. Perhaps it was a “behind the scenes” sort of thing but I ended up skipping most of them (especially if it involved handwriting because I find it hard to read my own handwriting, let alone others).