A companion piece to the captivating memoir GIVING UP THE GHOST by the Man Booker-winning author this collection of loosely autobiographical stories locates the transforming moments of a haunted childhood. This sharp funny collection of stories drawn from life begins in the 1950s in an insular northern village scoured by bitter winds & rough gossip tongues. For the child narrator the only way to survive is to get up get on get out. In King Billy is a Gentleman the child must come to terms with the loss of a father & the puzzle of a fading Irish heritage. Curved Is the Line of Beauty is a story of friendship faith & a near-disaster in a scrap-yard. The title story sees our narrator ironing out her northern vowels with the help of an ex-actress with one lung & a Manchester accent. In Third Floor Rising she watches dazzled as her mother carves out a stylish new identity. With a deceptively light touch Mantel locates the transforming moments of a haunted childhood.