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Feb 01, 2011

karen rated it:

hilary mantel is such a tease. she calls her book wolf hall because she knows i have a crush on jane seymour, and then she just blah blah blahs about thomas cromwell for 500 pages, feeding me only tiny bites of jane. sigh. me and hil have always had a rocky history.i have read four of her books now, and have only really liked one; beyond black. but i keep trying. this one was for class, but i probably would have read it anyway, because this summer i read a nice fat bio of henry VIII and really e More...

50 comments like (43 people liked it)

Sep 01, 2011

Amber ~Geektastic~ rated it:

I have always been fascinated by the history of England under the Tudors, particularly Henry VIII. I chalk this up partly to a morbid fascination, and partly to a genuine desire to understand the circumstances leading up to the Golden Age of Elizabeth I. (Her family’s Whig hatred of Elizabeth I is one of the few things I hold against Jane Austen.) This being said, I have hidden plot spoilers, but I will not be held accountable for the “spoilers” of history.

Well, to understand th More...

6 comments like (17 people liked it)

Dec 01, 2010

Emily rated it:

Wolf Hall is the kind of book that gets better the more you think about it. Its protagonist is Thomas Cromwell: a villain in A Man for All Seasons but here a man with a family, a career, and a sharp way of thinking. He doesn't want to be a saint; he wants to apply his shrewdness and hard-won experience to make the best of a bad world. His feelings towards his family, as portrayed here, make him sympathetic, even likeable.

The book introduces all the figures familiar to readers of other More...

5 comments like (20 people liked it)

May 16, 2010

Dana added it

Mantel has given a wonderful voice to Thomas Cromwell in this novel of an eyewitness perspective on Henry VIII's split from the Church of Rome. All the usual suspects are present, Katherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Cardinal Wolsey, Thomas More, along with a wonderful supporting cast of fully realized minor characters, whether fictional or historical. I don't know which is more painful to watch, Thomas More being viciously abusive to his wife and daughters over lunch, or Cromwell as a child watc More...

3 comments like (24 people liked it)

Dec 07, 2010

DoctorM rated it:

Thos. Cromwell has usually been presented as the heavy in the middle part of Henry VIII's reign--- the grasping, amoral, bullying parvenu who destroyed Sir Thos. More, the mastermind behind the king's efforts to divorce himself from Katherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn, the man behind the plundering of the monasteries. Leo McKern did a brilliant turn as Cromwell in "A Man for All Seasons" and Donald Pleasance played him in "Henry VIII and His Six Wives". The recent " More...

0 comments like (11 people liked it)

Dec 26, 2011

Susan rated it:

This review is over the top, but, then, I confess to being a WOLF HALL junkie, reading the book straight through twice on a kindle, buying the paperback, flipping through the pages, underlining favorite passages, listening to the audio version again and again, finding peace in the rhythm of its prose.

WOLF HALL by Hilary Mantel is a magnificent novel, a fictionalized biography of Thomas Cromwell. Except for early scenes involving Thomas’s youthful break with his family, the novel’s pres More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jun 27, 2011

Emily rated it:

Do you ever wonder about why people choose to read the books they do? Well, I can tell you, I read Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel because it won the Book Prize For Fiction in 2009. You see, The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt was nominated for the Booker in 2009, but did not win. Curious to see what book could beat one of my favorite books of all time, I looked up Wolf Hall. And what do you know, it's another piece of historical fiction set in England and written by a woman. This could be interesting! More...

4 comments like (14 people liked it)

Nov 12, 2011

Elizabeth added it

If you had asked me six months ago if I had that thing about the Tudors everyone else seems to have I would have said, Yes! So what if The Other Boleyn Girl couldn't keep my attention for five pages and by the second episode of The Tudors I was wondering if there was a dumber show on tv (but then The Jersey Shore came along. Whew). I wasn't too concerned. My love for the Tudor dynasty, which had the fascinating play out of the Machiavellian struggle of church and state, amid sex, ambitious women More...

36 comments like (32 people liked it)

Feb 01, 2012

Lisa rated it:

This book has inspired me to create a new bookshelf - one for unfinished books. I've been hearing a lot about this book. It's reaping praise, doing well on bookseller lists, and even won the 2009 Man Booker Prize. When I was at the library the other day, I saw this at the Book Stop and stood there for several minutes leafing through it, debating whether to get it. That should have been a red flag! I'll know next time that if it takes me that long to decide whether to get a book, that it's a sign More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 08, 2012

A.J. rated it:

One of the most interesting things about history is thinking about perspective. Very few people lived their lives with an intention of being known as a villain of history. Yet I think all of us fall into the trap of thinking of the past in moralistic terms sometimes. This is a function of generations of storytelling and cultural indoctrination. There are facts that we don't ever necessarily learn, or at least can remember learning, that we don't pause to consider.

My favorite thing ab More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Aug 19, 2011

Susan rated it:

Absolutely extraordinary.

I've always been a fan of the Tudor period of history, and as any Tudor freak will agree, we have a tendancy to focus only on the kings and their queens (and their less official dalliances). A prime example is the reign of Henry VIII, arguably the most prominent Tudor monarch. Nearly all books on his reign, certainly those in the historical fiction category, focus on the king and his wives themselves, especially Anne Boleyn.

Hilary Mantel transcends More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 23, 2010

Juliet rated it:

I won this book in a competition. It's a very long and detailed look at a very specific part of English history, the relationship between Thomas Cromwell and King Henry VIII. It's interesting for the detailed way in which it recreates the particular period in history and the way it throws light onto political corruption and the relationship between church and state. But for all the detail, I didn't feel i ever got close to any of the characters, they all felt as distant as the paintings that Han More...

3 comments like (14 people liked it)

Aug 18, 2011

Lisa rated it:

This book took me a while to get into as the author happily mixes up direct and indirect speech when she is showing us what Cromwell is thinking compared to what he is saying or what other people are saying to him. I didn't know too much about Cromwell before I read it (I thought he was Oliver Cromwell's grandfather, which he wasn't) but I am fascinated how a man from such a poor background managed to claw his way up the greasy pole of 16th century politics and remain there for so long ( I did e More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Aug 17, 2011

Marisa rated it:

This is a great book, a fascinating book, and a very educational book. It is also a very long book, and is sometimes a little hard to get into, but ultimately leaves you wondering about the inevitable differences between history as it actually was and history as it is portrayed.

This novel tells the story of the rise of Thomas Cromwell, from his early days as a blacksmith's son to the years he spent in service to Cardinal Wolsey and through to his emergence as King Henry VIII's most tr More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jun 03, 2010

Julie rated it:

I'm a nut for Tudor/Elizabethan histories, fiction and non-fiction. It seems that each one I've read has focused on a different character or aspect of the wild, rich, and turbulent political, romantic, and familial entanglements of Henry Tudor, his many wives and consorts, and of course his amazing and oft-bizarre off-spring, Mary and Elizabeth.

Hilary Mantel's protagonist is Thomas Cromwell, astute scholar and practitioner of law, business and courtly intrigue. He is drawn as a tou More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Jul 25, 2011

Jeremy rated it:

What to rate this book? That is the question. Whether to give 4 or 5 stars and to suffer the consequences of Anne's outrageous temper.

I am going with 5. Despite that there was the confusing of use of pronouns that everyone else has already mentioned, despite that it seemed to take me forever to read I found myself hanging on to every plot thread, every conversation, every subtelty (that I could pick up on). This was so uniquely written that it almost felt like a different readi More...

5 comments like (5 people liked it)

Apr 20, 2010

Susan rated it:

I finally finished the book. I did like it a lot but there has to be some reason it took me two months to read. I agree with my sister about the details of her writing: nuanced and original, absolutely no cliches.

I really loved the Cromwell POV which was usually signaled by "he" followed some action Cromwell took. I can see where it would frustrate some readers but I thought she used it well. Very rarely was it confusing. If "he" was someone else she took care to More...

3 comments like (6 people liked it)

Jan 05, 2010

Amalia rated it:

I haven't been a big follower of the Tudors, and my knowledge of English history is probably not what it should be in a perfect world. That said, I usually enjoy Booker Prize winners, and the early reviews I read of Wolf Hall implied it might be a tale that I would enjoy. This is a BIG book representative of a time with some big and revolutionary ideas, and I did find myself constantly challenged as I read it. Challenged in a good way, that is.
There are two literary "quirks" More...

5 comments like (23 people liked it)

Apr 11, 2011

Sarah rated it:

I love finishing a good book and enjoying the moment immediately afterward, just sitting and thinking about what I've read. Wolf Hall was the first book in quite a while to leave me in that moment of quiet contemplation, not eager to pick up the next book and let what I have just read fade away.

I was pretty sure, based on the topic and reviews, that I would love Wolf Hall. Well written historical fiction about the Tudors? Of course I would love that. Well written historical fiction abo More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

May 17, 2011

Christy rated it:

Wolf Hall is an exceptional novel. Exceptional. That's the best word to describe it.

This historical fiction novel is about Henry VIII's 'Great Matter', the annulment of his marriage to Katherine of Aragon. However, it is not shown through the eyes of a king or queen or even a lady-in-waiting. It is shown through the eyes of Thomas Cromwell, who was the King's chief minister.

Cromwell is painted as the true anti-hero. A man with a rough beginning who rose himself from noth More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 10, 2011

Michael rated it:

Review from Badelynge
"Cromwell, what does he really believe?"
It's a question that Anne Boleyn ponders in the book and I suppose it is the question the reader is also posed with. The book is very well researched by the author Hilary Mantel. There is a huge cast of characters involved here, threading their strands into the tangled weave of politics, intrigue and ambition that surrounds the court of King Henry VIII during his courtship and marriage to Anne Boleyn. At the end o More...

1 comment like (8 people liked it)

Oct 16, 2009

Jo rated it:

Thomas Cromwell ,a self made man, from very humble origins, finds himself at the heart of the greatest court in renaissance England. Easy to read from the opening line, and almost like you are having a conversation with the key characters, this novel just flows along. Meticulously researched, the Tudor court is shown ,not as a theatre set, but as a living,breathing, hotpotch of intrigue and disharmony.

When I saw this book reviewed in the Times recently I wasn't sure that Hilary Mant More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jul 21, 2010

Bxdoc rated it:

fascinating and totally engaging. Cromwell's rise is done with rich period detail in graceful prose. and I loved the different perspective on both More and Cromwell. the former not so saintly as conventional wisdom--and Bolt's play--would suggest. and Cromwell as a master manipulator whose subtlety of language is amazing to behold.
it also made me reflect on the reformation and how monumental a change it was. people being tortured and killed for what are now seen as quite small differences More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 11, 2011

Albert rated it:

A vast, self-contained history of Tudor England during the early reign of Henry VIII. Not much on setting, scenery, or symbolism, this novel builds up character after character from dialogue and action alone. Whether or not this works for the reader largely depends on how much they come into the book knowing something about the Tudors; I knew a bit, so it worked a bit. The plot is primarily given from the perspective of Thomas Cromwell, which is a new perspective on the familiar parts of this h More...

0 comments like

Aug 09, 2011

Lorna added it

For anyone, like me, whose childhood film memories include Robert Bolt's stunning A Man For All Seasons, with Paul Scofield in the lead role, this book will set preconceptions on their head.

It's the England of Henry VIII, besotted with Anne Boleyn, tussling with the Pope over his wish to cast off long-standing wife number one, Katherine of Aragon, and splitting the Church in the process. Everyone in high office, of Church or State, needs his wits about him, as the King will not brook dissent.

The More...

0 comments like

Jan 26, 2011

Darryl rated it:

**** “Wolf Hall” by Hilary Mantel. If you enjoy history, particularly English history during the time of Henry VIII (he of six wives), and would find it interesting to read conversations that Hilary Mantel brilliantly constructs from that which is known of the leading characters of the time, then this book is for you. All the well known characters are present: Henry Tudor; Katherine of Aragon; Anne Boleyn and her father, brother and sister, Mary, who was mistress to Henry before Anne captu More...

0 comments like

Sep 27, 2010

Teresa rated it:

Hilary Mantel s Booker prize shortlisted novel Wolf Hall is a book about how the world changes, about those pen strokes and discreet sighs that happen outside the public eye but whose consequences shape history. The book focuses on the English court in the years 1527 to 1535, from when Henry first broaches the idea of a split from Katherine to when Thomas More is executed for not supporting the king s divorce or denying the authority of the pope. Mantel's central character--her unlikely hero- More...

0 comments like

Mar 05, 2010

Sara added it

Hilary Mantel s new Booker Prize-winning novel Wolf Hall tells a familiar story: King Henry VIII is desperate for a legitimate male heir and wishes to dissolve his marriage to Katherine of Aragon in order to marry Anne Boleyn. In the process of doing this, he becomes head of the Church of England, severing his nation s ties with the Catholic Church. These events have been retold countless times, most recently in fluffy historical dramas about interpersonal conflict within the Tudor court. Wolf More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 02, 2012

Lightreads rated it:

As fiction, this wouldn't work: in isolation it has no weight, and no internal throughline. As historical fiction -- a reclamation of Thomas Cromwell and his rise to power in Henry VIII's court -- it is much more successful. The history lends dramatic irony, painful irony, bitter irony -- enough irony to choke an Oxford college. It makes this otherwise loose string of incidents and moments hang together, and I suspect for some people, it makes this book brilliant.

For me, I don't care a More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 31, 2011

Mark rated it:

Putting this book onto my history shelf stuck rather in my throat. It is a brilliant story, wonderfully descriptive and emotive. It creates a great panoply of historical figures but falls far short of actually being just to them. By that i mean Mantel quite clearly sets out to unwrite the hagiographical picture catholic tradition has given to Thomas More. She points out, quite rightly, his brutal treatment of 'heretics' and his lack of compassion to those with whom he disagrees and seems even to More...

5 comments like (11 people liked it)