Just finished this memoir by Hilary Mantel. Thought i'd recommend it. it's very humanely written (if a little arch in some places), and it explains elements of her fiction too. there's a great line when mantel's describing her childhood. her mother says, 'Hello, our Ilary!' and Mantel says: 'My parents named me aspirationally; aspiration, however, didn't stretch to the H.'

Sammy
There's a great interview with her in the new issue of Mslexia. There's a pull-out quote that gave me the shivers because it so beautifully expressed what it is to write, for me. She said something like: 'Sometimes I'm wandering around the house and I think, 'why am I so cold?' and then I realise I've just killed off one of my characters, so of course I'm cold because they're cold.'
Ain't that just brill?