Hilary Mantel

The author of twelve novels (ranging from political thrillers through social satire, comedy of manners, and near-gothic), still at the height of her career, HM has been likened to Muriel Spark or Edna O'Brien for the sharpness of her humour, and to Graham Greene for her command of suspense and of accurately rendered political background. She has also published memoirs and short fiction. She is a leading practitioner of the current form of the historical novel, and her fiction encompasses as wide a variety of geographical as of historical settings, from Africa to Saudi Arabia, Ireland, northern England, and revolutionary France. She has more sparked controversy with her treatment of royal or political figures of her own time.