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Wolf Hall (Hardcover)

by Hilary Mantel (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (127 customer reviews)
RRP: £18.99
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Product details

  • Hardcover: 672 pages
  • Publisher: Fourth Estate Ltd (30 April 2009)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0007230184
  • ISBN-13: 978-0007230181
  • Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.4 x 5.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (127 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 10 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #1 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > M > Mantel, Hilary
    #1 in  Books > Fiction > Genre > Historical

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Product Description

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.


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.

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Customer Reviews

127 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (127 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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226 of 258 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A magnificent tale, 16 Jun 2009
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
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.
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30 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Enthralling, 28 Oct 2009
This the story of Thomas Cromwell famous for helping Henry VIII secure his divorce from Katherine of Aragon. It is one epic book that took me a while to read and in many ways turns the popular historical view I had of Cromwell on it's head as an exact rebuff toA Man for All Seasons (Methuen Theatre Classics) (Modern Classics) (also loved the portrayal of Sir Thomas More). This is not unusual for novels that use a history as a base (I now have a new recently acquired view of Mary Queen of Scots after reading Full Story Inside and found cause to read more on Elisabeth I after watching Elizabeth : Special Edition [1998] [DVD] , although will always dismiss The Tudors: Complete Series 1 And 2 [DVD] [2007] as frivolous nonsense )

Everyone with even a little knowledge of English history knows the story of Henry and his six wives, and the dissolution of his marriage to Katherine of Aragon but essentially Wolf Hall rewrites the history of England from 1527 to 1535 with Thomas Cromwell as the hero. The writing is so wonderfully descriptive that you get a perfect picture of every scene and are so drawn into events, and the characterisation is spot on (loved the scheming spoilt brat interpretation of Anne Boleyn).

Wolf Hall is a wonderful example of what a historical Novel should be and worthy winner of the Book Prize (also highly recommend A Place of Greater Safety
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124 of 152 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Booker Prize Winner 2009 - an immensely enjoyable, but a long read, 15 April 2009
By Klaus van Amelrode "kmcva" - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
The 500 anniversary of Henry VIII's birth has triggered a real flood of books on the Tudors and the whole period. This period of English history had always been my favourite. So I just love it.

However Thomas Cromwell, Henry's chief ministers and the architect of Reform, had always been a bit elusive. So I am very happy that Hilary Mantel has made him the subject of her monumental novel.

Hilary Mantel has immersed herself into the period and indeed managed to re-created this very time when society changed so much. It is convincing and engaging, but not in an easy manner. She does not tell the story in a very simplistic way. Instead she chooses to show the different layers and the complications and I feel thereby gets very close to the challenges of the time. That does not make necessarily an easy reading, but a rewarding one as one gains a better understanding of the time. Cromwell and his personality became for the first time alive for me. Historic novels are a great tool to show a period or personality as the author sees him or her without being too closely tied to historic evidence. I believe Hilary Mantel has done that to perfection. She has given us her take on Cromwell and the Tudor period. But maybe she is a bit too much taken by Cromwell and it gives it a bit of unbalanced perspective.

Wolf Hall, the seat of the Seymours, is for me a symbol for the future, the protestant future as here Queen Jane, mother of the first protestant King Edward VI, lived. And btw Cromwell's son and heir Gregory married Elisabeth Seymour, sister to Queen Jane and the Lord Protector The Duke of Somerset.

All in all, this is an enjoyable but long read (more than 650 pages).
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars For Insomnia Sufferers Only!
I love anything to do with King Henrys court, so when this book won the Booker Prize I needed to read it!! After the first chapter I thought the book would pick up pace. Read more
Published 23 hours ago by Ym Schuiling

4.0 out of 5 stars Wolf Hall
Wolf Hall provides a fascinating window into Tudor class prejudices and power politics. The popular image of Cromwell is dispelled, he is no longer a ruthless sixteenth century... Read more
Published 1 day ago by A. W. Mallatratt

5.0 out of 5 stars Cromwell Henry's Fixer
This is an astonishing book. Mantel creates the world of the 1530s political movers and shakers so believably that the wranglings and manouvering around Henry's court seem as if... Read more
Published 2 days ago by C. J. Cotton

4.0 out of 5 stars Wolf Hall
Wolf Hall Author Hilary Mantel.

A good read, thoroughly well researched. Excellent throughout. I can't wait to read some of her other novels now.
Published 2 days ago by Mrs. CFB Wilks

3.0 out of 5 stars it's good but.........
It took me a while to get used to the author's scurrying backwards and forwards in time. I didn't expect a straight cradle to grave account but I found the switches to and fro... Read more
Published 2 days ago by JOHN MCMANUS

4.0 out of 5 stars worth working at
Thought this a bit hard going at first, however I stuck with it and enjoyed reading it (eventually). I had to get used to the particular style of writing. Read more
Published 3 days ago by C. I. Parry-webb

3.0 out of 5 stars history
I have not yet read this book as I have others to read first but it on first appearances looks to be interesting read and lovse Tudor period
Published 4 days ago by Mrs. V. Sutcliffe

1.0 out of 5 stars Boring, rambling sense-impressions
I amazed that this book won the Man Booker prize. I have read the first 150 pages and nothing has happened yet. Read more
Published 5 days ago by Mr. R. A. Ferdinand

5.0 out of 5 stars enlightening
i bought this book for the future as i like to read about the individual characters of history. glancing through it gives me the impression it is a comprehensive work
Published 5 days ago by D. A. Phimister

5.0 out of 5 stars great service
1st class service as usual my family dont believe how quick and efficent ylou are but are learning very fast
Published 5 days ago by G. Boulton

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