Beyond Black is a 2005 novel by English writer Hilary Mantel. It was shortlisted for the 2006 Orange Prize for Fiction.

Plot summary

The book's central character is a medium named Alison Hart who, along with her assistant/business partner/manager, Colette, takes her one-woman psychic show on the road, travelling to venues around the Home Counties, and providing her audience with a point of contact between this world and the next. On the surface, Alison seems like a happy-go-lucky woman, but this persona is only a mask she wears for her public. In truth, she is deeply traumatised by memories and ghosts from her childhood, and a knowledge that the afterlife is not the wonderful place her clients often perceive it to be. She spends much of the story trying to exorcise her demons, and by the end is ultimately able to overcome them.

Reception

It was generally well-received. On Metacritic, the book received a 75 out of 100 based on 18 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". In September/October 2005 issue of Bookmarks, a magazine that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received a (3.5 out of 5) with the summary saying," A story that normalizes clairvoyance shouldn’t work this well, but it does".