Product Description

Winner of the Man Booker Prize 2009 'Lock Cromwell in a deep dungeon in the morning,' says Thomas More, 'and when you come back that night he'll be sitting on a plush cushion eating larks' tongues, and all the gaolers will owe him money.' England, the 1520s. Henry VIII is on the throne, but has no heir. Cardinal Wolsey is his chief advisor, charged with securing the divorce the pope refuses to grant. Into this atmosphere of distrust and need comes Thomas Cromwell, first as Wolsey's clerk, and later his successor. 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. Ruthless in pursuit of his own interests, he is as ambitious in his wider politics as he is for himself. His reforming agenda is carried out in the grip of a self-interested parliament and a king who fluctuates between romantic passions and murderous rages. From one of our finest living writers, Wolf Hall is that very rare thing: a truly great English novel, one that explores the intersection of individual psychology and wider politics. With a vast array of characters, and richly overflowing with incident, it peels back history to show us Tudor England as a half-made society, moulding itself with great passion and suffering and courage.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2 in Books
• Published on: 2009-04-30
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 672 pages

About the Author
Hilary Mantel is one of our most important living writers. She is the author of eleven books, including A Place of Greater Safety, Giving Up the Ghost, and, most recently, Beyond Black, which was shortlisted for the 2006 Orange Prize.

Customer Reviews

A magnificent tale
Anyone who paid attention in history classes at school will need little background to the events of Wolf Hall. The key events of the story take place over just less than a ten year period from the 1520s to the 1530s. Mantel has taken what is, supposedly, Britain's best loved history topic, Henry VIII and his divorce from Catherine of Aragon, marriage to Anne Boleyn and the resulting split with Rome and has melded it into a compelling story.

She has obviously had some of her work done for her - the key dramatic events, characters, plots and intrigue are fairly heavily based in fact, but what Mantel has done is to breathe life and substance into the historial figures to make them loveable, hateable, complex characters. At the centre of her book stands Thomas Cromwell, a man from humble origins who rose to unprecedented power in England as Henry's chief minister. Cromwell is beautifully portrayed and his personal relationships, be they loving, tragic or political are fascinating reading. The relationships with Wolsey and More in particular are executed wonderfully (no pun intended in the latter case).

My only grumble with the book were that some events are included, but skated over in short passages and other events are included, but drag a little. This is probably an inevitable part of a historical novel covering such a long period of time; you can't simply leap forward 2 years and avoid the need to understand certain intervening events. However, whilst this slows the pace of the book in places, I enjoyed the book so much that it didn't particularly spoil it for me (indeed, those who prefer a fast paced novel are probably not going to enjoy Wolf Hall).

The book ends shortly after the death of Thomas More, and I can't be only one who wonders (and hopes) whether we might yet see a second, "decline and fall" book. I'd certainly love to read it.

Mantel at the top of her game
Hilary Mantel has written a historical novel that is also a gripping psychological thriller. It is centred on Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII's chief minister, as he navigates the murderous feuds around the court of this autocratic and ruthless monarch, out of which came England's breach with Rome, the protestant reformation, and (some say) the beginnings of a state bureaucracy. Cromwell was a skilful survivor, and many of his opponents and ex-friends met a sticky end, including Thomas More, renaissance scholar who refused to bow the knee to Henry, and the unfortunate Queen Anne Boleyn. Both are more famous than Cromwell, both were executed.
Hans Holbein painted Cromwell with "the face of a murderer". Mantel paints the blacksmith's son from Putney as a family man and a brisk, efficient man of business with the diplomatic charm needed to steer a course for his master at home and among the big beasts of Europe - Pope, Emperor and the French king Francis I. Henry was duly grateful and rewarded him with offices and power.
Because Mantel does her research meticulously, the characters leap out of the page, and the reader thinks "this is how it must have been". Wolf Hall is a supremely imaginative novel but it also provides a subtle and chilling dissection of human cruelty generated by the power struggles in an autocracy. Cromwell hardly qualifies as its hero, but we care about his fate. The book ends when he sets course for Wolf Hall, home of Henry's next queen. We know that Cromwell lived for five more years, and we know that it won't go well in the end. Has Mantel a sequel already on hard disk? Or has she made her point, that politics is a rough old game? As it stands, this is a richly textured story and second to none in creating a world where believable people wrestle with chaotic events.

Couldn't get into it but its so worthy I blamed myself!
Its 500 years since Henry VIII came to the throne and a raft of books and documentaries have emerged accordingly. I am fascinated by the Tudor period and have briefly dipped into Hilary Mantel's work by reading the marvellous "An Experiment In Love".

However, despite getting to around page 87 and liking the angle (its told from Thomas Cromwell's point of view), I just couldn't plough any further.

Its a clever book, and weighs the same as a brick, so I thought I was in for a treat, but despite the profound detail and incredible research, I just lost interest. Since its so intelligently written, I can't help feeling its my fault. However, I am not afraid of heavy going tomes being an English Graduate but this saw me off I'm afraid.

The scenes and transitions made it hard to follow and I often had to turn back a few pages to see who was who again. After about the fifth time, this irritated me despite my friendly intentions towards the book and I gave up.

You may have more luck then me, but it just didn't "flow".