After watching the wonderful Showtime series, The Tudors, I was very anxious to read more about the Tudor court. A friend recommended Hilary Mantel’s Man Booker prize winner, Wolf Hall. It’s a very long book, yet so fascinating that it seemed a pretty quick read.
Note that all four seasons of The Tudors are currently available in the Amazon Instant Video Store, and all four seasons are currently free to watch for Amazon Prime members, too. If you’re considering the book but need a refresher on the cast of characters, you might want to view the Instant Videos first — especially if you’re a Prime member.
About Wolf Hall, from Amazon:
In the ruthless arena of King Henry VIII’s court, only one man dares to gamble his life to win the king’s favor and ascend to the heights of political power
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. The quest for the king’s freedom destroys his adviser, the brilliant Cardinal Wolsey, and leaves a power vacuum.
Into this impasse steps Thomas Cromwell. Cromwell is a wholly original man, a charmer and a bully, both idealist and opportunist, astute in reading people and a demon of energy: he is also a consummate politician, hardened by his personal losses, 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 presents a picture of a half-made society on the cusp of change, where individuals fight or embrace their fate with passion and courage. With a vast array of characters, overflowing with incident, the novel re-creates an era when the personal and political are separated by a hairbreadth, where success brings unlimited power but a single failure means death.
The sequel to Hilary Mantel’s 2009 Man Booker Prize winner and New York Times bestseller, Wolf Hall delves into the heart of Tudor history with the downfall of Anne Boleyn
Though he battled for seven years to marry her, Henry is disenchanted with Anne Boleyn. She has failed to give him a son and her sharp intelligence and audacious will alienate his old friends and the noble families of England. When the discarded Katherine dies in exile from the court, Anne stands starkly exposed, the focus of gossip and malice.
At a word from Henry, Thomas Cromwell is ready to bring her down. Over three terrifying weeks, Anne is ensnared in a web of conspiracy, while the demure Jane Seymour stands waiting her turn for the poisoned wedding ring. But Anne and her powerful family will not yield without a ferocious struggle. Hilary Mantel’s Bring Up the Bodies follows the dramatic trial of the queen and her suitors for adultery and treason. To defeat the Boleyns, Cromwell must ally with his natural enemies, the papist aristocracy. What price will he pay for Anne’s head?
I’m not typically one to spring for a Kindle book with a pricetag over $9.99, and I actually think even $9.99 is too much for publishers to charge for a Kindle book. But in this rare case, I feel the books are worth the price. First, they’re much longer than a typical novel. Wolf Hall has over 600 pages in its paperback edition, and the hardback of Bring Up the Bodies is over 430 pages. Each of these books has an entertainment value more than equal to the purchase price of twice as many books. Also, they’re just so darned good!
If you’re a fan of The Tudors, a bit of a history buff about the Tudor court, or a fan of European historical fiction, get these books. They’re worth every penny.