Wolf Hall

By Hilary Mantel

Book Overview

WINNER OF THE 2009 MAN BOOKER PRIZE
WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FOR FICTION
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years and marry Anne Boleyn. The pope and most of Europe opposes him. Into this impasse steps Thomas Cromwell: a wholly original man, a charmer and a bully, both idealist and opportunist, astute in reading people, and implacable in his ambition. But Henry is volatile: one day tender, one day murderous. Cromwell helps him break the opposition, but what will be the price of his triumph?

In inimitable style, Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall is a darkly brilliant reimagining of life under Henry VIII. . . . Magnificent. (The Boston Globe).

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312429983
• ISBN13: 9780312429980
• Release Date: August 2010
• Publisher: Picador USA
• Length: 640 Pages
• Weight: 1.09 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 5.4" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Tedious

I am an avid book reader and I had to force myself to finish this book. I have read many books about medieval British history including but not limited to the Tudors so I already knew the story. This book does not flow well. Mantel switches points of view seemingly mid thought and asks you to follow along. She uses titles as if you know who they are without a back story. She assumes you know that Edward Stafford is also...

Extraordinary and compelling

Hilary Mantel has deserved to win the Booker with this magnificent novel. For someone interested in the history of Henry VIII and the ill fated Anne Boleyn, this is an absolute treat - a meticulously researched and written novel which portrays their era with colour and wit. But of course the true star of the book is Thomas Cromwell, son of a violent blacksmith, and his meteoric rise to fame. The book commences with Cromwell's...

An outstanding novel, to be sure.

I have to say that I love all things Tudor, and Wolf Hall is no exception, but it is exceptional. In most of the novels about Henry VIII's England, Cromwell plays a role, but he's never been the main character. Writers most often leave the famous wives of Henry VIII (divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived) to play that role. In reality, not a lot is known about this person, but Hilary Mantel has woven her tale...

Amazing

When I first received my copy of this book, I was a little daunted by it. I'd hear it was "literary"--whatever that means--plus, it's written in the present tense, which I usually detest in a novel. But the more I read this book, the more I liked it. It's really hard to do this kind of expansive novel justice, so I'm going to try my best to describe why I liked it so much. Wolf Hall is the story of Thomas Cromwell, lawyer...

Wolf Hall

The scope and breadth of this novel is immense. Hilary Mantel sets out to describe a tumultuous period in English history, not by focusing on the main event- Henry and Anne- but by showing the struggle faced by those more behind the scenes. Thomas Cromwell says, late in the book, that worlds are not changed by kings and popes, but by two men sitting at a table, coming to an agreement, or by the exchange of thoughts and ideas...