Vacant Possession cover art

Vacant Possession

 Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Vacant Possession

By: Hilary Mantel
Narrated by: Sandra Duncan
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

From the double Man Booker Prize-winner, a savagely funny tale that revisits the characters from the much-loved Every Day is Mother’s Day.

Muriel Axon is about to re-enter the lives of Colin Sidney and Isabel Field. It is 10 years since her last tangle with them, but for Muriel this is not time enough. There are still scores to be settled, truths to be faced and vengeance to be wreaked.

©1986 Hilary Mantel (P)2013 W F Howes Ltd Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Satire Fiction Comedy Funny Thought-Provoking Witty

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Classic BBC Radio Shakespeare: Romances cover art
The Colour cover art
Metroland cover art
One Across, Two Down cover art
The Things We Never Said cover art
Exposure cover art
Say It With Poison, Mitchell and Markby Village, Book 1 cover art
The Long Gaze Back cover art
An Air That Kills cover art
This Much Is True cover art

Critic reviews

"The macabre and wonderfully funny plot has as many twists and turns as a well-made thriller" ( Standard)
"Hilary Mantel's wit is wonderful and startlingly nasty" ( Sunday Times)
All stars
Most relevant
Great following on from Every Day is Mother's Day, but was left very disappointed by the ending. It has almost made me wish I hadn't invested the time and emotional energy into listening to the two books.

Fabulous follow up but disappointing ending

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Really exiting, funny family thriller. Excellent for anyone who loves great stories perfectly written. Got through this in less than a week

Brilliant/ exiting/

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A brilliant sequel to Every day is Mothers Day. Bleak and hilarious, beautifully written and narrated.

Funny and dark

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Thoroughly weird but compelling stories. I’m glad I read Everyday is Mothers Day first because Vacant Possession follows on.
One thing I will say the last 2 Chapter’s lost me somewhat I probably need to go over them again.

Fantastic book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Hilarious Mantel was a brilliant writer, and the appreciation of her use of language adds another large layer to the plot.
I had been eager to find out what happened to Muriel and the Sidneys after Mother's Day, and there they were, all in her former home where the 'accumulated misery bounced off the walls'.
I never had any idea where the plot was going, but it was a rollicking ride with it!

Stunning

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews