BEYOND BLACK, by Hilary Mantel

 Beyond Black is an extraordinary novel - a place where the living and the dead, psychics and lowlifes all mingle. The book is inventive, graphic, disturbing, dark and somehow compelling. There are 3 narratives intertwined in the book. In the main one, we trace the life of psychic Alison - or Al, a "large woman" with a deeply troubled upbringing, who has the "gift" of psychic powers that is, to put it mildly, a double-edged sword. We meet her in media res while doing a psychic stage show in a ratty outer suburb of London. It's clear that Alison's psychic ability causes her great pain - physical as well as emotional. Evidently, in the world of the novel at least, psychics have "spirit guides" who help them connect with those on the other side. Alison's is vulgar dirty and possibly perverted Morris, who is a sinister presence throughout the book. He is "accompanied" by a number of similar lowlife types, who, it seems, were once live people who tormented, molested and tortured Alison when she was growing up in extremely degraded circumstances with her prostitute mother. This links to the second narrative, that of Alison's childhood. We only get flashes of that part of her life, but all are disturbing and haunt Alison, who has been deeply traumatized. The third narrative is that of Alison's manager, Collene, who is emotionally disturbed in her own way. Leaving a broken marriage, she connects with Alison as she sees there is a way to make money from the psychic gig. She's not a believer but sometimes feels psychic disturbances along the way. Much of the novel meanders through seemingly random plot lines but ultimately ends in a satisfying way. It's not so much the details of what happens to the two women and associated spirits and other people along the way that drives the novel - it's all about the haunting presence of Alison's past, the spirits mingling with the living, the emotional stress and pain of the two women as they steer through their unusual landscape. 

For a review of the book from The Guardian, click here: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/apr/30/featuresreviews.guardianreview30