Wolf Hall

I'm not sure how to describe Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall. I have been well immersed in Henry VIII stories over the last year - I read The Boleyn Inheritance last summer and I've been watching The Tudors DVD boxset since last Christmas. So I was curious to find out how Mantel would tackle this well-known story. Well, I think she took a very different perspective - the book is almost impressionistic in style. It follows the timeline of events all right, but from a very personal perspective, in light, painterly, touches. I'm not sure I'm expressing this right - it's like the events themselves don't matter so much, but the feelings and thoughts and impressions at the core do.

The story follows Thomas Cromwell, from his youth up until the execution of Thomas More, but it doesn't focus so much on the big events or on the King, but on what goes on in Cromwell's head. Which I found fascinating.

However, if you're not familiar with the period, I really don't think it's the book to start with! While The Tudors TV series is silly in parts - Far too much sex, Jonathan Rhys Meyers never puts on weight as he plays an ageing Henry, and a view of the Pope's palace outside of Rome is very clearly Powerscourt House and Gardens in Co. Wicklow - it gives a good overview of who is who and how events unfold. If you can put up with the many sex scenes and the lack of historical detail (the women's dresses don't look right for the period, even), it's actually a good introduction to the period.

And I found similarities between the Thomas Cromwell of Wolf Hall and that of The Tudors (apart from the lack of weight gain, again), a man devoted to the King, a hard worker, an intelligent man. But Wolf Hall really gets us inside his head, his every thought, his love for his family, his appreciation of the finer things in life, his dedication to his work, his humanity.

I've got Mantel's next book, Bring up the Bodies, lined up on my Kindle. However, as I said, Wolf Hall is not the book to pick up if you want to learn the broad strokes of the period. But it's the perfect read if you're interested in the nitty gritty of what may or may not have gone on in Thomas Cromwell's head!

For other opinions and excerpts, have a look at this interesting little Tumblr!