I’m kind of obsessed with Hilary Mantel right now. Wolf Hall was such a feat — historical fiction about Thomas Cromwell, his rise from abused blacksmith’s son to Henry VIII’s closest adviser. It’s in close third person, and even though the book is hefty and runs hundreds of pages, it feels economical and quick.
This interview ran in The Telegraph (UK) about six months ago. Here’s a quote from it. She is talking about the intersection of her difficult childhood and her long writing life.
‘As a writer you owe it to yourself not to get stuck in a rut of looking at the world in a certain way. You have no business saying, “My character is this and my character is that. This is my habit, this is what I am like.” That is no good for a writer. You have got to be absolutely fluid. You have to become everything your material demands of you. You have to be mutable. You have to be constantly ready to change shape.’