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 Wolf
Hall: A Novel
by Hilary
Mantel
Winner of
the Mann Booker Prize 2009
No character in the canon has been writ
larger than Henry VIII, but that didn't stop Hilary
Mantel. She strides through centuries, past acres of
novels, histories, biographies, and plays--even past
Henry himself--confident in the knowledge that to recast
history's most mercurial sovereign, it's not the King
she needs to see, but one of the King's most mysterious
agents. Enter Thomas Cromwell, a self-made man and
remarkable polymath who ascends to the King's right
hand. Rigorously pragmatic and forward-thinking,
Cromwell has little interest in what motivates his
Majesty, and although he makes way for Henry's marriage
to the infamous Anne Boleyn, it's the future of a free
England that he honors above all else and hopes to
secure. Mantel plots with a sleight of hand, making full
use of her masterful grasp on the facts without weighing
down her prose. The opening cast of characters and
family trees may give initial pause to some readers, but
persevere: the witty, whip-smart lines volleying the
action forward may convince you a short stay in the
Tower of London might not be so bad... provided you
could bring a copy of Wolf
Hall along.
--Anne Bartholomew
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.
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Wolf Hall: A Novel
by Hilary
Mantel
Winner of
the Mann Booker Prize 2009
$21.25
(hardback)
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