first book in Thomas Cromwell Series

#1 in trilogy

First in trilogy

All hail Hilary Mantel, master of bringing the Tudor court to life so palpably you feel you are really there! As a lover of this time period, I will read anything centering on the Tudor dynasty from Shakespeare to the silliest YA romp. However, Mantel's masterpiece outshines them all, following the rise of lowborn Thomas Cromwell as he becomes Henry VIII's closest advisor. Cromwell is often portrayed as a villain in Tudor fiction, so it was fascinating getting to know him, his family, and his political allies and enemies through a protagonist's lens.

Wolf Hall is dense (almost 700 pages) and it can be difficult to keep track of its numerous characters (especially when so many of them have the same first names), but don't let that deter you. If you're a fan of court intrigue, you won't want to miss this winner of the 2009 Booker Prize.

Mantel begins her trilogy with a gripping novel of the rise of Thomas Cromwell in the heady (and dangerous) political landscape of Henry VIII's court. Figures like Katherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Cardinal Wolsey, Thomas More, William Tyndale, and Archbishop Cranmer, jostle for position among the international intrigue of Henry's martial status, reform of the Church, and rivalry between England, France, the Papacy, and the Empire. Imperceptibly, Cromwell "arranges his face" as a courtier and climbs the ladder of power as others fall into disgrace, exile, or even the fires of the executioner. Be prepared to be captivated by this window onto history, and onto the soul of the central character.

Part of former US President, Barack Obama's summer reading list for 2019.

I loved this book (and also Bring Up the Bodies). I am just puzzled that anyone found either book boring. I read both of them feeling like I WAS Thomas Cromwell. Made the time come alive for me.

a treasure!

It took me ages to finish it and I felt like celebrating when I did. I loved the BBC miniseries and I did appreciate the first and last third of it, but it was hard to get into the groove of this book. However, the detail, the portrayal of Cromwell and the extraordinary work that went into researching this book is astounding. Her prose is dry, often extremely subtle and witty. It is as slippery as Cromwell himself. I wish I loved it more than I did. I will still read Bring up the Bodies.

Wow, great title and that's about it.

Despite all the critical acclaim it's just a very boring read. The potential is amazing, and I imagine the research and work that went into it was substantial, but the writing was just missing some ingredient to make it interesting. Also, an annoying feature is that the pronoun "he" is almost exclusively reserved for Thomas Cromwell, which may seem like a neat literary device, it is a little confusing at first, and then just plain annoying. Fantastic idea for a book but the writing just does not follow through, it became more and more difficult to pick it up and about exactly half way through I stopped...well, after 350 pages enough is enough.
PS The TV series could be really good though...