Man, what a booker of a prize! Mantel does it again

University of Exeter honorary graduate Hilary Mantel won the Man Booker Prize on the , for the second time.

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Exeter alumnus Hilary Mantel CBE [HonDLitt2011] won the Man Booker Prize for the second time with Bring Up the Bodies, becoming the first British author and the first female author to receive the award twice.

She also becomes the first author to win the award again with a sequel.

Mantel’s wins come just a small time apart, the writer having triumphed in 2009 with her opening novel Wolf Hall.

Mantel is only the third author ever to achieve a double win, following in the footsteps of Peter Carey and JM Coetzee.

The novels form part of a historical trilogy of Tudor times in which Mantel famously revives Thomas Cromwell and charts the downfall of Anne Boleyn to much critical acclaim.

With two victories in the bag, it is fair to say that Mantel has a lot of pressure riding on the conclusive novel. Will she go for the hat-trick?