Writer Hilary Mantel wants to leave the UK and go back to Europe again

Escritora Hilary Mantel quer deixar Reino Unido e ser europeia de novo

British writer Hilary Mantell, in London, on 4 September. 2020 – AFP/Archive

British novelist Hilary Mantell has said she intends to apply for Irish citizenship to “return to Europe”, and leave the United Kingdom, which left the European Union on January 31, 2020.

The writer criticized the monarchy, which “confuses” her, saying that she “feels better in the republic,” according to an interview published by the Italian newspaper La Repubblica on Saturday (4).

“I hope to be able to do the opposite with my family soon and become Irish,” explained Mantell, who is of Irish descent on her grandparents’ side.

The 69-year-old novelist, who has twice won the prestigious Man Booker Prize for Literature, reports for the first two volumes of her trilogy about Thomas Cromwell, King Henry VIII’s minister to King Henry VIII of England.

Despite enjoying where she lives, ‘by the sea’ in southwest England, the novelist explains that she ‘feels the need to pack her bags as quickly as possible to become European again’.

For her, the UK is an “artificial and unstable building”.

In the same interview, the writer criticized Prime Minister Boris Johnson, a staunch supporter of Brexit, and met him several times.

He stressed that “it should not be in public life, and I’m sure you know that,” expressing “ashamed to live in a nation that elected this government.”

Mantell also called Brexit supporters “immature opportunists, hypocrites, and often ridiculous.”

Brexit has led to an increase in the number of applications for Irish citizenship from UK-born Britons, who wish to preserve their freedom of movement in the EU.