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: #8 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.

A big fat crunchy knockout of a book
Set during the 1520s to 1540s during Henry VIII's break with Rome, the story charts the rise of Thomas Cromwell, a clever, charismatic man from a terrible abusive childhood, who rises to a powerful position in Tudor politics. After the death of his beloved Wolsey, he becomes even closer to the King and tries to facilitate a divorce between Katharine of Aragon and Henry, so the King can marry Anne Boleyn and produce the longed for heir.

It's a big fat crunchy book, which amply demonstrates that people were completely different then, not just in the obvious way of dressing and living but how they thought. Many were prepared to endure a terrible death rather than betray their faith. In one telling scene, Cromwell deeply sympathises with a Lutheran scholar who has been sentenced to be burned at the stake, and he arranges for him to be transferred to another prison, bribing the guards and telling the prisoner 'it would be a terrible shame if you escaped as you could get across the river where you'd find a boat waiting for you'. But when the guards return, they find the prisoner standing calmly where he was left.

Two of the many things that stood out about this book. Firstly Thomas More does not come across as the gentle humanist of Robert Bolt's A Man for all Seasons. Instead he is a repellent torturer who is secretly in love with his own daughter Margaret and treats his wife with utter contempt. His famous speech: 'I do none harm, I think none harm. If this be not enough to keep a man alive . . ' is met with an aghast 'You DO none harm?' by Cromwell who has witnessed the sadistic pleasure More takes in torturing anyone who does not share his religious beliefs. Secondly, Henry VIII is not the obese buffoon of recent imaginings but instead, a thoughtful, deeply religious man, who Cromwell admires. The sheer fascination of Anne for Henry is deeply believable too - it was never just a matter of her refusing to sleep with him.

The only reason I didn't give the book a five out of five is it's slightly abrupt ending as More goes headlong towards his martyrdom. Anne has just given birth to Elizabeth but her swift decline from total power to being at the centre of a pornographic court plot which lead to her unjust trial and execution, has not yet begun. I feel almost certain a sequel is in the offing. I hope so. This was a meticulously researched and beautifully written book which made me realise how historical reputations can be built up (as with Thomas More) with no justification, or unfairly maligned (as with Cromwell himself)

Unpickupable
Given as a gift pre-Booker prize. Sat on shelf waiting to be read. After the award I eagerly thought I'd tuck into it. Read the first few chapters once. Then again. Then again. No matter how often I read sections of this book, I was still left confused. The tale may be worthy. It may well appeal to the esteemed judges of the Booker prize. But the peculiar writing style left me with confusion as to who was the narrator and left me irritated. The plot - on the occasions when it no longer eluded me - left me with no interest as to what would happen next. I gained no sense of connection or interest in the characters. It's the sort of book I felt I *ought* to read. But after many attempts, I was left with a feeling of heavy duty when I picked it up. Eventually it felt a burden which - despite the many enthusiastic reviews - won out in the end. The book remains unfinished. I concluded that this book would not make my life more complete through struggling through it. And with a sense of relief I placed it to one side to move on to more pleasurable literary pursuits. Good luck to others who choose to read it. Congratulations to those who enjoy it. But others may find it a struggle.