Bring Up the Bodies (Wolf Hall, Book 2)

I've seldom seen anything similar to the approving furor over Hilary Mantel's WOLF HALL, and if you had told me that a novel about Thomas Cromwell - most famously seen as a sleazy weasel attacking the saintly Thomas More in the movie A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS - could be fascinating and sexy, I would not have believed you. Mantel's writing, however, was utterly perfect as she twisted expectations by showing More as the intolerant, egocentric, venomous 16th-century anti-hero and Cromwell as a man who, in spite of battering, had become generous, loving, wise, reforming, amusing - calculating and vengeful (the vengeful doesn't really pop up until almost the end of WOLF HALL but it's definitely a trail worth following). So where do you go with one of the decade's most approved books, winner of the Man Booker Prize and other prestigious awards, which was so beautifully written that, while waiting for Part 2, many of us read it multiple times just to savor the ironies, the contrasts? You go on, as life does, and do Part 2. BRING UP THE BODIES gives Cromwell an altogether tougher task. Having become rich and elevated by serving Henry VIII in any way he desires, Cromwell now has to metaphorically enter Henry's bed to get rid of an inconvenient woman. Anne Boleyn has failed to give the King what she promised and that, in Tudor England, was fatal. The current Queen, from the first page of the book, has a metaphysical and literal sword hanging over her head. After the most notorious romance in western history, a stitched-up divorce ripping England from Holy Mother Church, all she can provide to the heir-hungry Henry is - another squalling daughter and a series of miscarriages. Just like her predecessor, the sorrowful Katherine of Aragon. So - Cromwell, the ultimate Fixer for his Machiavellian monarch, is going to have to fix this one as well. At what cost? As the book progressed, an image from the first page kept recurring to me - the falcon, stooping to the kill, bloodied and remorseless. Circa regna tonat , indeed. This story has been told and retold, and the same magic that infused Wolf Hall illuminates this catastrophic event with the same surprises, beautiful writing, subtle penetration, and black irony. Somehow, it seems like an entirely new story, one in which you know there will be bodies but still, for a time, it seems like this doom-laden tale could be rewritten, that it will not end in a stage full of corpses. There is magic in Mantel's prose: "Katherine was not without sin, but now her sins are taken off her. They are all heaped upon Anne; the shadow who flits after her, the woman draped in night. The old queen dwells in the radiance of God's presence, her dead infants swaddled at her feet, but Anne dwells in this sinful world below, stewed in her childbed sweat, in her soiled sheet. But her hands and feet are cold and her heart is like a stone." I waited two years for this book and it was worth the wait. If Mantel can sustain this dark, haunted, illuminating, ironic time-travel for a third book, I will be astounded - but perhaps, not surprised.

Hilary Mantel writes like a dream and invests in Tudor-court politics an essential believability that speaks brilliantly to her powers of imagination. She might have been a fly on the wall in actual conversations she has spun between Cromwell and Henry - exchanges that mix quotidian events of the pantry with events of great pitch and moment on the Continent - or, more magically, between Cromwell ("Cremuel") and Anne Boleyn, haughty, dismissive, conniving, and insecure for her inability to produce a male heir. This is more a political thriller than simply a historical novel that rehashes one of the most familiar episodes in English history. Yes, we know how this turns out, but we admire the way in which Mantel invests each participant with very specific stakes in particular outcomes and creates a narrative that simply hurtles forward. I miss, however, the dreamy narrative character of the first volume, Wolf Hall, which to my eyes was enhanced by Mantel's use of the third-person singular "he," unmodified, to refer to Cromwell - a trope that mystified many readers who failed to fall into Mantel's particular rhythm. Here, either in deference to readers or editors, she is perfectly clear, repeatedly referring to "he, Cromwell, ... " rather than simply to "he" or "Cromwell," either of which would do the work without the odd stylization. The first volume also covered nearly 50 years of Cromwell's life, was packed widely varied locales and events, sharp observation, a sense of the full panoply of English life in the Tudor, one that breathed naturally and spaciously. Bring Up the Bodies, on the other hand, unfolds in a compressed nine-month timeframe, in the suffocatingly claustrophobic atmosphere of Henry's royal court, thickly populated by credibly wrought historical personages - the only pure creation is Cromwell's entertaining French henchman, Christophe - and all fed by lies, rumor, innuendo, and stiletto dialogue. In this chapter of Mantel's Cromwelliad, Master Secretary comes off significantly less sympathetically - colder, more calculating (if that can even be imagined), and more self-interested (above all in staying afloat) - than in the first novel. His essential humanity, however, repeatedly surfaces, often in the form of an enduring loyalty to the dead Wolsey, Cromwell's beloved sponsor and mentor, and one of two largely absent figures who hovers over the proceedings. The other, Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester and Cromwell's most ardent foe, elicits a different side of Cromwell altogether. Gardiner spends most of this story in France in an ambassadorial capacity but is perfectly apprised of Cromwell's doings and from afar works continually to undermine his designs, just as Cromwell works to contain Gardiner's influence at court and among the friends of Catherine, the first of Henry's deposed queens, who have allied with Cromwell against the Boleyns. Yet for all the delights of Mantel's characterization and dialogue (and speculation about what actually happened, for we shall never know), the story seemed at times somewhat cluttered and discursive. I recognize this perception is almost certainly partly due to my American provincialism in failing to keep distinctions absolutely clear: every principal character except the occasional commoner has at least three, and often more, ways to be named - "Thomas Howard" (one of many, many "Thomases"), "Howard," "Norfolk," "Lord High Steward" - and, at times, keeping all the personalities straight made my head spin. (Cromwell the butcher's son also has many titles, but we always know where he is, as the novel's point of view is uniformly Cromwellian. Is he in every scene? Without going back to check, I believe so.) Thankfully, Mantel (or the publisher) provides a dramatis personae, to which I often referred. But his is a dismissable carp: this is a wonderful follow-up to Wolf Hall that whets the appetite for a third and final installment of the Cromwell Saga. It cannot come too soon.

Hilary Mantel is a brilliant writer. Just brilliant. And this is a fascinating story. I had no idea what a clever, diabolical, ingenious, and manipulative person Thomas Cromwell was. He is a man around whom you want to be careful what you say. He can and will use it against you--if it suits his purposes. And since he's right-hand man to King Henry VIII (no slouch at plotting himself), it will sooner or later suit his purposes. He is cold, cunning, intelligent, mysterious, and at times, darkly funny. Yes, the book has humor--but you have to pay attention. Having watched "Wolf Hall" with the inimitable Mark Rylant, I could picture no one else in the role, and Rylant's slim, barely noticeable smile haunted me all through the book. Anne Boleyn, as portrayed by Mantel, is not a particularly sympathetic character, so it's difficult to feel sorry for her. On the other hand, where would she get compassion? She is envied by nearly every woman in the land, constantly berated by royalty and subjects alike, and deserted by everyone close to her, including her own family. She sees life as a fight for survival, and sadly, she turns out to be right. Apparently it is good to be king because Henry has everything on his side, including Cromwell. He's a person you'd want rooting for you too--right up until the moment he turns on you. This is a rich accounting, filled with history and details galore. Mantel brings Elizabethan England to life, from clothing and food to transportation, architecture, politics, religion, superstition, government, everyday life--and torture. It's a robust, unflinching novel filled with fascinating characters. But as intriguing as Henry is, he cannot hold a candle to Cromwell. I read--and loved--Wolf Hall. This is even better. I'm hoping for a sequel. No one writes historic fiction like Mantel. Her research is impressive and her writing is unrivaled. Don't miss this book.

I didn't review Wolf Hall, but I read it, loved it, and like many reviewers here I feel that Bring Up the Bodies would lose something in the translation if you didn't precede it with Wolf Hall. I too am waiting eagerly for the third and final volume. I have always been somewhat obsessed with English history starting with the very ancient through Elizabeth 1. The saga of Henry VIII in particular has always fascinated me and after having read a number of books centered on this tale, most of the characters surrounding Henry, as well as Henry himself, have been fleshed out pretty well for me. The one character, however, that has always seemed remote and obscure has been Thomas Cromwell. These books have definitely served to bring this man to vivid life. I think telling this story through his eyes is a brilliant and unique literary twist, and definitely brings a very fresh perspective to the plot. In addition to finally bringing Cromwell out of the gray into the light, Ms Mantel has added new colors to all of the other familiar players in this drama. This, the second volume of the trilogy, chronicles the three week period prior to the execution of Anne Boleyn. Anne has also fascinated me as she, like Henry, seems to be such a contradiction, and as there are multiple portraits of her depending on which book you happen to pick up, the reader always has to try to separate what seems logical and makes sense relative to the sequence of events. Because I believe Anne to have been a highly intelligent woman, I don't think she would have been foolish enough to have gotten herself into an adulterous situation, however, she seems to have been a born flirt which certainly didn't help her case. I also believe that her arrogance and her pride contributed much to her undoing...and then again perhaps none of these really made that much difference once Henry became weary of her and she failed to bear him a son. Owing to Mantel's matchless prose, and even though I had read many previous descriptions of Anne's demise, I could not put this book down as the suspense builds from the first page through to the well-documented end. This particular retelling is unsurpassed and certainly illustrates why both volumes have won Ms Mantel the Man Booker prize. I fervently recommend this book (which really should be preceded by Wolf Hall) not just to devotees of this particular phase of English history, but to anyone who craves a superbly crafted and deeply moving account of an always mesmerizing story.

Hillary Mantel's sequel to "Wolf Hall" follows the machinations and strategies employed by the self-made man, and dedicated royal servant Thomas Cromwell as he works assiduously to bring down the unwanted Queen Anne Boleyn so that Henry VIII could move quickly on to his third wife and sire a male heir. Whereas Wolf Hall covers nearly a decade from the decline and fall of Cardinal Wolsey and rise of Anne Boleyn and her family to the execution of Sir Thomas More in July 1535, this second of what promises to be a trilogy on the career of Thomas Cromwell runs only from late 1535 through to the Summer of 1536. The writing and dialogue are clearer and less confusing than in Wolf Hall, so that it is a faster ("can't put it down") read that should be especially satisfying to those many history buffs who have an interest in the insanely rapid ups and downs of court life during the reign of Henry VIII. Thomas Cromwell continues to be lens through which we view this troubled jungle and becomes the protagonist as he strives to serve the King by assembling charges to destroy Anne Boleyn and her faction. Whether the charges were just and true is probably less telling than the fact that the entire court seems to be populated by arrogant, scheming individuals who would (and had) plotted the downfall of others and profited from such dealings. Through the clear vision of hindsight, we may be amazed that Anne and her family considered that they could be supplanted - retired to a nunnery or simply fall from favor without being charged with treason and killed. However, Henry needed quick and complete resolution and Cromwell delivered with consummate skill so that the Seymour faction of Wolf Hall could move into the privileged role beside new Queen Jane barely one year after the Boleyn triumph at the death of Sir Thomas More. What those of us familiar with this era already may know is the irony that the new Queen Jane would die after giving birth to the future Edward VI in 1537 and that her newly enriched brothers, Edward and Thomas, would both be executed only a few years later during the short reign of their nephew. While favor at court delivered power, titles and vast wealth, it was also a place of extreme hazard. Raised from humble rank to that of baron at the novel's end - obviously for services rendered to the King - Thomas Cromwell will move even higher in royal favor and influence until his own fall and execution in 1540. One would think that the author could squeeze two additional novels out of the next four crowded years of Henry's reign rather than just one. Although we follow and might actually sympathize to some extent with Thomas Cromwell as a person, Mantel allows us to look over his shoulder amid a high stakes world of treachery and judicial murder where overwhelming success may be just a prequel to sudden downfall and execution. Whether or not we come to like Cromwell, he is (and really was) an incredibly skillful and ruthless practitioner of power politics in the Tudor court. It is fascinating to watch him work.

Love ain't so grand after all. Thomas Cromwell spent hundreds of pages in "Wolf Hall," the first part of Hilary Mantel's trilogy about him, granting Henry VIII's wishes. As the second book, "Bring Up the Bodies," opens, England is more or less at peace, Henry can thumb his nose at the pope, his enemies (heads) have been removed, his ex-wife is exiled and ailing, and he can frolic with his new bride, Anne Boleyn. But Henry is still not satisfied: His offspring with Boleyn, as with Katherine, his first wife, has come up a few inches short, if you know what I mean. And Cromwell can't help in that department. "You would think, to look at Henry laughing, to look at Henry praying, to look at him leading his men through the forest path, that he sits as secure on his throne as he does on his horse. Looks can deceive. By night, he lies awake; he stares at the carved roof beams; he numbers his days. He says, 'Cromwell, Cromwell, what shall I do?' Cromwell, save me from the Emperor. Cromwell, save me from the Pope. Then he calls in his Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, and demands to know, 'Is my soul damned?'" The king summers at Wolf Hall, home of the Seymour family, where Cromwell notices Henry's eye wandering toward the Seymours' daughter Jane. "The king is wearing an expression he has seen before, though on beast, rather than man. He looks stunned, like a veal calf knocked on the head by the butcher." Around Anne Boleyn, Henry just looks harassed. "You can see his gaze growing distant when she begins one of her rants, and if he were not such a gentleman he would pull his hat down over his ears." Anne is dropping hints that she's pregnant again. Henry's not going to risk marital monkeyshines while Anne could be carrying his male heir, so the time may be opportune for a dillydally with Jane. And Cromwell, who's always about four steps ahead of everyone else, realizes the benefits could go beyond Henry's itchy britches. "If they play this carefully, Edward Seymour will rise within the court and give him an ally where allies are scarce." Cromwell continues to have to tiptoe around the vipers who populate the king's court, who tell tales behind the king's back, who refuse to see beyond Cromwell's common origins despite being so thoroughly outmatched in intellectual warfare. "I have probably, he thinks, gone as far as I can to accommodate them. Now they must accommodate me, or be removed." Although Anne enjoys badinage with Cromwell, she's unable to get the best of him, and that puts him in a potentially dangerous situation. "He is not indifferent to women, God knows, just indifferent to Anne Boleyn. It galls her; he should have pretended. He has made her queen, she has made him minister; but they are uneasy now, each of them vigilant, watching each other for some slip that will betray real feeling, and so give advantage to the one or the other." Cromwell is better at guarding his feelings but no less vulnerable, particularly to grief. The dead frequently visit him. They even have their own section in the book's helpful Cast of Characters list. Cromwell's wife and daughters are never far from his thoughts. A description of his "girls" is so poignant, it's liable to bring some readers to tears before they reach the end of the book's second paragraph. Those with harder hearts may hold out until the book's final passages of remembrance. Cromwell continues to hold mental debates with his vanquished enemy Thomas More, beheaded and planted on a spike at the Tower of London for refusing to swear an oath of loyalty to Henry as head of the church. Cromwell told More, "I pray to God, grant me life only as long as I use my power to build and not destroy. Among the ignorant it is said that the king is destroying the church. In fact he is renewing it. It will be a better country, believe me, once it is purged of liars and hypocrites." But Cromwell's purges can be awfully destructive. He regards the country's monks as parasites, feeding off the ignorance of the populace and hoarding church bounty that could better fund matters of state. Defiance means death for many of these monks, and England has had lots of practice perfecting creatively horrid demises for subversives. A jousting accident involving the king drives home for Cromwell his essential aloneness as Boleyn family members rush like Alexander Haig to assert that they're in control: "How many men can say, as I must, 'I am a man whose only friend is the King of England'? I have everything, you would think. And yet take Henry away and I have nothing." When Anne miscarries the royal bun in the oven, the wrathful (and horny for lady-in-waiting Jane) Henry suspects "I was somehow dishonestly led into this marriage." Somewhere in Rome, the pope just did a spit-take. Henry wants to usher out the brittle and abrasive Anne to make way for sweet and simple Jane. Cromwell sets about finding the best way to annul Henry's marriage, suggesting Anne might be better off getting religion and retreating to a convent. "I think the king would prefer her to withdraw from the world." Anne's father realizes the Boleyns' time basking in the king's favor is at an end. "Women age, men like variety; it's an old story and even an anointed queen cannot escape it to write her own ending." He has an easier time accepting that (providing he receives a handsome severance package and gets to keep the family holdings) than Anne does. In packing Anne off to the Tower and rounding up her retinue of illicit lovers (including -- allegedly -- her own brother), Cromwell finds himself not above exacting icy cold vengeance for the fall of his mentor and father figure, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, in the previous book. The resulting treason trial shows how little has changed over the centuries as far as the rabble's appetite for public scandal and humiliation. "Bring Up the Bodies" is more of the same from Mantel, and that's a very good thing. She invites us for a fascinating behind-the-tapestries look at the business of royalty and religion where they collide with bedroom politics. It's a captivating history lesson enlivened by Mantel's wonderfully wry sense of black humor. For all its beheadings, the novel packs quite a few good laughs. In my review of "Wolf Hall," I mentioned a potential stumbling block for readers: The way Mantel referred to Cromwell only as "he" or "him" led to some tangle-ups when Cromwell interacted with other hims and hes. I don't flatter myself that Mantel reads my online ramblings, but someone must have told her. In "Bring Up the Bodies," she refers to her protagonist as "he, Cromwell." It's sort of a gentle tap on the forehead for us slower readers.

This is the second volume of a projected trilogy of novels by Hilary Mantel. The first volume, "Wolf Hall," won the Man Booker prize, and for good reason (see my Amazon review). This continuation maintains the high standards found in the best of historical fiction novels. While I don't think it is essential to have read "Wolf Hall" before reading this volume, I do think it is extremely helpful to have done so. Mantel exhibits many virtues in these two books. Her research is impeccable and this is crucial; to write effective historical fiction an author needs to have a solid grasp of the historical record. Moreover, she is superb in constructing dialogues between the central character, Thomas Cromwell, and the other key actors in the story: Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, and various other folks. This is something that the finest British novels and, especially, plays (e.g., John Osborne) manifest: powerful, hard-hitting dialogue. Mantel's scenes between Cromwell and his principal antagonist, Thomas More, in the prior volume, were as powerful as those written by Robert Bolt in "A Man For All Seasons," and that is saying a lot. My only complaint is that Mantel frequently identifies Cromwell simply as "he," and assumes the reader can keep it straight. Though, on occasion, she fills it out: "he, Cromwell" (p. 391). I would add one additional "want," not a criticism: I would have preferred more extensive coverage of the trials of Anne Boleyn and her co-defendants. Mantel's mastery of dialogue would have made the exchanges therein highly exciting. Otherwise, this book is an additional 400 pages (we are up to 1,000 between the two) of absorbing story. Cromwell displays a bit more of the behavior that has made him somewhat an historical villain, as he ascends up the pecking order to reach the lofty level of Baron. Of course, given his co-characters, such conduct would almost seem a necessity. The focus of this second volume is Cromwell's successful campaign to indict and convict Anne Boleyn for "treason," and thereby have her executed and removed from blocking Henry VIII's desire to marry Jane Seymour. The crafty Cromwell will face a more dangerous time, I am sure, in the final volume as new and old enemies conspire to bring him down. I can hardly wait!

A great read on the parallel progress of the lives of Thomas Cromwell and Anne Boleyn. While there is not graphic violence, detailed descriptions of execution methods might put off some readers. There is strong sexual content.... that is phrased in terms of circumlocution so subtle (mostly) that I recommend the book to my popular literature students. The third person narration will keep readers on their toes. While following the mental musings of Cromwell, it can sometimes be confusing as to who "he" and "him" refer to. This is not a negative comment. But the drowsy reader will find that the pages have to be "rewound" in order to pick up the story sense after putting the book down for a few hours. Cromwell had to be one of history's master multi-tasker. The number of titles given him by King Henry necessitated the creation of bureaucracies to carry out assigned tasks. Cromwell created many of these in his various homes. His assistants numbered in the hundreds. Some roles and titles given him had not previously existed, either in England or elsewhere, so it was not possible to take an existent government structure and simply tweak changes. Without diligent reader attention, Mantel's "writer voice" might appear to be rambling, unfocused, and terse in some of its presentation. I believe this is the author being very skillful and artistic in exhibiting the multitude of daunting tasks a multi-tasker must deal with. Think in terms of Eisenhower organizing the D-Day invasion. Detailing the rise and fall of Anne, the book takes on a whole new level of excitement when Anne is taken to the Tower of London for her final confinement and Cromwell has to manufacture a case that will legally and satisfactorily lead to execution. It is history, so this is not a spoiler. The interviews that Cromwell has with each of the condemned is masterful "spin" language. The "spin" is that, when initially confronted, the victim did not know of the crime committed or his own culpability. By the end of each interview, there may still have been doubts in the suspect's mind as to guilt, but there would have been no doubts about the inevitability of the verdict. This is the second book in the series. I read it first. I look forward to reading the first book, "Wolf Hall."

Der zweite Teil der Trilogie über Thomas Cromwell schildert vorwiegend den Untergang von Anne Boleyn, der zweiten Frau von Heinrich VIII. und welche Rolle Cromwell dabei spielte. Der Höhepunkt ist die Beschreibung Hilary Mantels auf 10 Seiten von der Hinrichtung Boleyns - der Scharfrichter kam eigens aus Calais. - Des Weiteren lernt mal viel über wichtige Persönlichkeiten des damaligen Englands und Heinrichs VIII. Bruch mit Rom kennen. Die Hinrichtung von Thomas More spiegelt den Höhepunkt diesen Bruchs wider. - Historischer, epischer Roman at its best!

Es fantástico, quizá el primero me impresionó más pero este segundo es espectacular también. Los retratos psicológicos y el desarrollo de los acontecimientos estan descritos con una riqueza y precisión que pareces estar en el lugar que la autora describe, percibiendo los estados de ánimo de los personajes, los olores y temperatura de cada secuencia del relato. Hace creer al lector q lo q realmente ocurrió es lo que está leyendo. Recomiendo su lectura y quedo a la espera de la publicación de la tercera entrega de la trilogía.

A autora conferiu profunda dimensão humana a figuras históricas, que tão frequentemente são retratadas de forma estereotipada. Este livro e Wolf Hall, que o antecedeu, são ambos perfeitos tanto para os que amam história, quanto para quem busca boa literatura.

This is a worthy successor to Wolf Hall, and in my opinion, a better novel. The first ends with a marriage; the 2nd with an execution. I much prefer executions to marriages. The intrigue surrounding the elevation of Ann Boleyn and the banishment of Katherine of Arragon from the royal bed, is modest stuff compared with the sexual politics that led to the former losing her head, as well as her crown. Hilary Mantel charts her every false step on the way to the block with intense precision, and a densely textured narrative that skillfully combines clarity and an ambiguity that is essential for an author who attempts to make her fiction match the truth of History. No one can be certain of the absence or extent of Ann’s guilt, and in the context of this novel it is not all that important. It is a foil with which to explore many intriguing issues: the rise of a blacksmith’s son to penultimate power in a court dominated by venal aristocrats busy looking over their shoulders as they stab the back of the courtier in front of them; the brutal clash between Church and State in which the former is stripped of its wealth and the latter of its soul; the initiatives and concessions needed to secure England’s peace with Europe, or a position of unassailable strength through strategic alliances, marriage being the most durable form of diplomatic cement; the gluttonous appetites of newly-promoted families for power and position-------indeed the fall of the Boleyn family is such a satisfying outcome that it almost justifies Anne’s demise for that reason alone. Every good novel needs a hero, and in Thomas Cromwell, Mantel has found or created one to suit her purpose admirably. As a devoted husband, now widower; an exemplary father who has lost all but one of his children, and whose own childhood was marred by paternal cruelty and brutality; a loyal disciple of his mentor, Cardinal Wolsey, who displays equal loyalty and concern for the disciples whose mentor he has now become; he stands as a beacon of common decency in a world of deceit. Mantel paints him, in biblical terms, as a “Noah in his Generation”: no big compliment in being the best of a generation so evil, that God decided to eradicate human life from the planet he had created only a short time ago. Actually, it is not quite like that. As with the very best novelists, Mantel creates or recruits characters who mix good and evil in varying proportions into different shades of gray. Thomas’ father Walter is about as monochromatic as she will allow in her cast of thousands, apart from whom there is no other that lacks some likable features. Her writing is scholarly; at times pedantic; at others mellifluous to the point of daring the reader to recite it rather than read it so that its sonority will not go unappreciated; but she is not shy about words, ideas, or actions that 50 years ago would have raised the hackles of the censors. The enormity of the number of characters places a great strain on the reader’s memory, but the task is made easier by a sort of Cast List that precedes the opening of the novel, and also by the fact that we have met most of them before in Wolf Hall. In fact it is pretty senseless to tackle this one prior to the latter, any more than one can start a Play in the 2nd Act. There will after all be a 3rd to follow, that apparently is already written. As in WH, the production standards of this paperback version are very satisfactory: thick paper, clear medium-sized print, and reasonably durable covers. At Amazon’s price, averaging out around 3 cents per page, this is not only great literature: it is also great economics.

A pleasure to read and Ms Mantel has thought like the character - whether like a king, the redoubtable Cromwell, or those in fringes - the language very correct for the character and situation etc. My introduction to Henry VIII came from Sansom and his Shardlake, so to lead Wolf Hall, and then this book, gave a perspective, often a different one especially about the intent and actions of Cromwell. I regretted the book came to an end :) Beware it took me a few weeks to relish the book, though I usually read at a good pace. The first fifty pages or so could be trying for some readers, not daunting though, and thereafter you will look forward to getting back to the wonderful narrative.