SOURCE: “See for Yourself,” in Times Literary Supplement, September 4, 1998, p. 10.

In the following favorable review of The Giant, O'Brien, Nokes maintains that “the novel has a weary, off-balance quality that catches where we least expect it.”

Hilary Mantel, in her latest novel, The Giant, O'Brien, seems fixated by the hunger of public credulity. What will detain the imagination, or charm a penny from a tight-wad's pocket? “We are victim to fresh sensations,” says Bitch Mary. One day, a queue of eager spectators lines the walls of the premises in Spring Gardens, waving their half-crown entrance fee. The next, the novelty is gone: “Ooh, giants—giants were last year,” all agree; out of fashion, like the Spotted Boy, the Human Pincushion and the “What Is It?.” “The life of a freak is not long,” says Con Claffey, with an egg-stain on his waistcoat which he wears as a badge...