| Wolf Hall | 
| Author: Hilary Mantel
Publisher: Fourth Estate
Category: Book
List Price: £8.99
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Seller: ST Bookstores
Rating:  402 reviews
Sales Rank: 45
Media: Paperback
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5 x 1.7
ISBN: 0007230206
EAN: 9780007230204
ASIN: 0007230206
Publication Date: March 4, 2010
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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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.'
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 402
 A magnificent tale June 16, 2009
R. W. Mackenzie
465 out of 500 found this review helpful
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.
A beautiful book August 29, 2010
Mr. R. F. W. Freeman (Buckinghamshire)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I loved 'A Place of Greater Safety' and I loved this book even more. Impeccably researched, beautifully written and utterly credible. Hilary Mantel brings Thomas Cromwell to life. This is a book to treasure and to re-read, probably several times. I can hardly wait for the sequel. A truly well deserved Booker prize win.
Insightful, intuitive - brilliant - if you read one book this year, it should be this one. October 11, 2009
B. A. V. MIDDLEMAST-NEAL (Essex, UK)
40 out of 46 found this review helpful
"Wolf Hall" is a fictionalised biography of Thomas Cromwell and covers his rise from an unpromising and brutalised childhood, through his involvement in the divorce of Katherine of Aragon and the subsequent marriage of Anne Boleyn by Henry VIII. It finishes shortly after the death of Thomas More.
This is brilliantly written; the author has the ability to effortlessly enfold chunks of history into the narrative. There is no clunky gear change from the homely business of the Cromwell household into an explanation of Pope Clement's position on Henry's marriage to Katherine. Everything is brilliantly entwined.
Each character is exquisitely and finely drawn (even the minor and seemingly insignificant ones). It's well-researched, thorough and absorbing.
This is not a quick read. But I have read every Booker Prize winner for the last fifteen years and this one is, in my opinion, the most eloquently and beautifully written. I have read other books by Hilary Mantel (my favourite being "Beyond Black") but this is on a completely different level and is in contention to be one of my favourite books of all time.
If you read just one book this year, make it this one.
Deserves all the rave reviews August 19, 2010
D. H. Swift (UK)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I can't help but be impressed by this because I am a writer and Hilary Mantel's craft is just dazzling. As a read for sheer entertainment, it was patchy for me, my interest peaked and waned, but this is such a tour-de-force that it really doesn't matter. Cromwell is alive from page one and by the end of it I felt I knew the person - no mean feat. The historical research is impeccable, though occasionally I got lost in the political shenanigans of the day and wanted to skip through to a more personal part of the book. I resisted because I thought if I lost track of what was happening I might never find the thread again. For writers and historical fiction fans, this is a 'must read'. Superb.
amazing, clever, wow August 18, 2010
bubbletrouble (Devon, England)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Some negative reviews of this book commenting on its confusing and inpenetrable style. It did take some effort to get into the book, and I read the first two chapters twice, very slowly. However, once I'd worked out Mantel's style and thus who was talking I was away. The colour and detail of the period and its people is simply amazing, and fabulously real women who are not Queens or Princesses feature strongly in the book. Humour, nastiness and spirit permiate the story and the characters resonate with each other and the reader. I couldn't finish this book in one go as I normally would when so taken with a story - that would be the literary equivalent of eating 100 chocolate gateaux in one sitting - but I was able to gorge on it for eight heavenly days. It stayed with me for a long time afterwards. I'm in complete awe of Hilary Mantel!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 402
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