Learning to Speak Correctly

A collection of stories by a two-time winner of the Booker Prize.
These sharp, sometimes funny, life-based stories date back to the early 1950s. Their heroes inhabit a closed-off world of a factory settlement in northern England, where the area is... «lashed by harsh winds and crude gossip».
In the story «King Billy – a gentleman», the main character must come to terms with the loss of his father and the unsolvable puzzle of fading Irish heritage. «The Path of Beauty is Twisted» tells of the power of friendship and (nearly) disaster at the dump. In the story «Learning to Speak Correctly», Hilary Mantel corrects her northern accent with the help of a former actress, who has «only one lung» and «a very noticeable Manchester accent», while the heroine of the story «To the Third Floor» watches in amazement as her mother acquires a new identity despite prejudices.