Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (Harper Collins, 2019)
Historical Fiction
Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall (ISBN: 978000831691), now in paperback, set in the court of Henry VIII. The story of his increasingly desperate desire for an heir is well-known, as are the tumultuous religious, political and personal upheavals that ensued. However, Mantel’s narration of the story through this and the sequels of Bring up the Bodies and The Mirror & The Light feels fresh and contemporary. We follow the rise of Thomas Cromwell from lowly lawyer and fixer for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey to the kingpin of Henry’s court – a powerful but perilous position. Told in the present tense, I felt I was there, on Cromwell’s shoulder, in the midst of it all.