A Memoir of My Former Self: A Life in Writing

In this dazzling posthumous collection of previously published and original writings, novelist Mantel (1952–2022; Wolf Hall) submits herself to the “constant state of self-questioning” she deems characteristic of any worthwhile history or fiction. Divided into five sections and dated with timestamps spanning from 1987 to 2018, these pieces see Mantel interrogating her primary genre (“The task of historical fiction is to take the past out of the archive and relocate it in the body”); casting a sharp critical eye on films from RoboCop to When Harry Met Sally (“People sometimes like to have their intimate dilemmas presented to them in terms that are slick and witty and bittersweet instead of just bitter”); analyzing the works of women authors (“Everything in [Annie Proulx’s] work attests to a long practice of keen observation, a hoarding of images and facts”); detailing transformative moments from her own life (“This is the day I met my stepfather. I am four now. My head is slightly too big for my body. The inside of it is bulging with knowledge”); and providing a window into her writing process, through which she attempted to achieve a “relationship with language that is clean, unflawed.” Mantel’s idiosyncratic and magisterial voice comes through on every page, carrying readers across an astonishing array of subject matter with ease. This is a treasure. (Oct.)