My first book was a historical novel. I started writing in 1974. In those days, historical novels meant ladies with swelling bosoms… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
Read Becoming a Writer by Dorothea Brande. Then do what it says, including the tasks you think are impossible. You will particularly… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
'Show up at the desk' is one of the first rules of writing, but for 'Wolf Hall' I was about 30 years late. — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
My first career ambitions involved turning into a boy; I intended to be either a railway guard or a knight errant. — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
Imagine the consequences of having the first woman prime minister who is the milk snatcher. [Margaret Thatcher] takes away the nourishment of… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
It was unfortunate for other women who might come after [Margaret Thatcher] that the first woman to become prime minister was a… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
Some readers read a book as if it were an instruction manual, expecting to understand everything first time, but of course when… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
The writer I adore is Ivy Compton-Burnett.I couldn't get more than a few pages in when I first read her. In many… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
When I began to read as an adult, my first big enthusiasm was Evelyn Waugh. I read almost exclusively novelists of a… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
People will identify with a persecuted minority without asking themselves what they are identifying with. — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
“The hunter is among the most innocent of men; living in the moment makes him feel pure. When he returns in the evening, his… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
“But what would happen … I mean, what would be so awful … if they did meet up?” “Why, it would be like the… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
When you have committed enough words to paper, you feel you have a spine stiff enough to stand up in the wind. But when… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
At New Year's he had given Anne a present of silver forks with handles of rock crystal. He hopes she will use them to… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
“The story of my own childhood is a complicated sentence that I am always trying to finish, to finish and put behind me. It… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
“He wants to say, because Anne is not a carnal being, she is a calculating being, with a cold slick brain at work behind… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
“Come to that, don't pay out good money for horoscopes. If things are going to go badly for you, is that what you need… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
“But my sins are my strength, he thinks; the sins I have done, that others have not even found the opportunity of committing. I… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
“Mirabeau: “If you have been told to clear us from this hall, you must ask for orders to use force. We shall leave our… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
“Cardinal Campeggio has implored Katherine to bow to the king's will, accept that her marriage is invalid and retire to a convent. Certainly, she… — Hilary Mantel Copy Share Image
![“Imagine the consequences of having the first woman prime minister who is the milk snatcher. [Margaret Thatcher] takes away the nourishment of the nation.” quote by Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/5b7/hilary-mantel-440_consequence_imagine-the-consequences-of-having-the-f_1979662.jpg)
![“It was unfortunate for other women who might come after [Margaret Thatcher] that the first woman to become prime minister was a male impersonator.” quote by Hilary Mantel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/62c/hilary-mantel-440_firsts_it-was-unfortunate-for-other-women-who-m_2064772.jpg)
