I’m taking a writing course now and we are tasked with as much reading as writing in this class. Our recent assignment was “Giving up the Ghost” by Hilary Mantel.  It’s a memoir that won the MIND Book of the Year award in 2003 when it was published. Aside from this Hilary has been short listed for other major literary awards and in 2009 won the Man Booker prize for her novel “Wolf Hall.” In this age of reality TV and people exposing the most intimate details for others to see it’s no surprise that memoirs have become increasingly popular. Two of the most popular types of memoirs these days are those written by celebrities and “misery” memoirs.  Misery memoirs can be cathartic to the writer. As they write they can release pain they’ve held onto.  It can also be inspiring to the reader to read about the challenges the author has faced and been able to overcome.

“Giving up the Ghost” falls into both of these categories of memoir and raised quite strong reactions from many in my class. Some had a very difficult time connecting with the author. They felt as if she was moaning too much. One person said it was a luxury that she was able to even have this book published and that it only happened because she was already an accomplished writer. Others appreciated Mantel’s unique style and found humour in the way she described her childhood and inspiration that despite all she went through she went on to be an award winning author.  Personally I had mixed feelings about the book. After finding the first page interesting it took me another forty nine pages to get into it.  Parts of it seemed to drag on.  I did enjoy reading about her antics as a child. The way she wrote about this took me back to my childhood and reminded me of how differently a child can see things than we do as adults.  Even though it wasn’t my favourite book ever it was one that really made me think and has stayed with me after I’ve finished reading it.

 In parts of the book she hints at what we know as supernatural ghosts but the ghosts that Mantel mainly speaks of are the memories that haunt us and can hold us back or propel us through our lives. For Mantel this was the scars of a dysfunctional family and debilitating health issues that were incorrectly diagnosed for years. These “ghosts” stayed with Mantel and bred other ghosts that accompanied her as well. We all have our “ghosts” Prior to moving to London I was positive that I had released all of mine. I’d worked with a life coach for two years to make myself ready for this move only to show up in London and realise the ghosts I’d let go of had made move for others that I’d not paid as much attention to. I’ve made a conscious decision to try to release them and let them go as they emerge. Of course some ghosts hold on tighter than others.

 Part of life is about being able to heal, let go and reinvent as we need to.  What ghosts are you carrying around? When we’re in the midst of pain it’s hard to imagine we can ever escape it. Sometimes we carry around these memories thorough our lives reliving them and using them as excuses to not move forward and do what you’d really love to do. What if we used these ghosts as catalysts to evolve? Rather than letting painful memories hold us down we can use them as fuel to change our situations. Many people have had great success because their pain has given them the motivation to do things differently. It’s important that we all remember our strength and power so that we these ghosts show up we can take inspiration from them. As we let go of these ghosts we can let go of beliefs and situations that no longer serve us and make room for those that do.
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