I read Wolf Hall in 2009 and came away confused. You really have to be present and have to actively consume this book. There are many characters in this book, and the threads of the story are complex. The language is rich and meaty bringing to life a historical figure that is often on the fringes in other historical novels of this era. The story picks up in Bringing up the Bodies, when Anne’s power over Henry is waning, and Cromwell is charged with finding a reason to expel her from court.īoth books do an amazing job of describing the characters and complicated political intrigues of the time. By the end of the book, Henry is at last able to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, and marry Anne Boleyn. Wolf Hall sets the stage with the characters and drama. In Wolf Hall, we are introduced to Thomas Cromwell, a man from humble origins who with his knowledge and dexterity with the law, is able to rise to power in the court of Henry VIII. The books tell the tale of Henry VIII’s court through the eyes of Henry’s top advisor Thomas Cromwell, a person, who in Mantel’s opinion has been historically misunderstood. Hilary Mantel brings new life to this subject with the first two installments in the Thomas Cromwell Trilogy. That is why the books Wolf Hall and Bringing up the Bodies were such a pleasant surprise. There have so been many novels written about Tudor England and the intrigues of Henry VIII, one would think nothing more could be said.
Cromwell watches as the king falls in love with silent, plain Jane Seymour, sensing what Henry' s affection will mean for his queen, for England, and for himself. By 1535, when the action of Bring Up the Bodies begins, Cromwell is Chief Minister to Henry, his fortunes having risen with those of Anne Boleyn, Henry' s second wife. In Wolf Hall we witness Cromwell' s rise, beginning as clerk to Cardinal Wolsey, Henry' s chief advisor, charged with securing the divorce the pope refuses to grant. Cromwell is a wholly original man: the son of a brutal blacksmith, a political genius, a briber, a charmer, a bully, a man with a delicate and deadly expertise in manipulating people and events. Through the eyes and ears of Thomas Cromwell, the books' narrative prism, we are shown Tudor England, the court of King Henry VIII. They have been credited with elevating historical fiction to new heights and animating a period of history many thought too well known to be made fresh. Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, the first two instalments in Hilary Mantel' s Tudor trilogy, have gathered readers and praise in equal and enormous measure. A two-ebook edition of Hilary Mantel' s bestselling novels: Wolf Hall, winner of the Man Booker Prize 2009, and Bring Up the Bodies, winner of the Man Booker Prize 2012.
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