Book Review: Wolf Hall

It's getting to look a lot like Christmas, so I'm madly working on finishing up the gifts that I make, so my reading has been limited to eaudiobooks.  I was looking for a new book when I finished The Golem and the Jinni and found that we had Wolf Hall available.  I'd been wanting to read it for a few years so I downloaded it. This is the story of Thomas Cromwell.  He started out as the son of a drunkard blacksmith who ran away from home and joined the army in France.  He stayed on the Continent for many years, picking up languages and a trade.  When he returned to England he was well on his way to becoming a successful businessman and lawyer.  He eventually worked for Cardinal Wosley, through whom he met Henry VIII. The story is told through the eyes of Cromwell.  Although it is fiction, it keeps true to the historical record as far as possible.  It is a fascinating look into the world of England during the Tudor reign.  The book won the Man Booker Award in 2009.

Wolf Hall By Mantel, Hilary 2009-10 - Henry Holt & Company 9780805080681 Check Our Catalog Awards: Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2010), Costa Book Awards (2009), Indies Choice Book Awards (2010), Man Booker Prize (2009), National Book Critics Circle Award (2009), Orange Broadband Prize (2010), Women's Fiction AKA Orange Prize (2010) In the ruthless arena of King Henry VIII's court, only one man, Thomas Cromwell, dares to gamble his life to win the king's favor and ascend to the heights of political power. HPL patron:  A personal and in depth treatment of Thomas Cromwell.  From child to adult.  A view more compassionate than history-well researched but still fiction-illuminating about the …More

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