The Wolf Hall Trilogy
This historical trilogy—Wolf Hall, Bring Up the Bodies, and The Mirror and the Light—traces the rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell, chief minister to King Henry VIII. Told with psychological nuance and lush detail, the series reimagines Tudor politics through Cromwell’s pragmatic and cunning perspective. Mantel’s portrayal of power, ambition, and human frailty won her two Booker Prizes and redefined historical fiction. The Wolf Hall Trilogy is both a gripping political drama and a literary masterpiece of character and atmosphere.
England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years and marry Anne Boleyn. The pope and most of Europe opposes him. Into this impasse steps Thomas Cromwell: a wholly original man, a charmer and a bully, both idealist and opportunist, astute in reading people, and implacable in his ambition. But Henry is volatile: one day tender, one day murderous. Cromwell helps him break the opposition, but what will be the price of his triumph?
Bring Up the Bodies is the second novel in Hilary Mantel's acclaimed historical fiction trilogy about Thomas Cromwell, set during the reign of Henry VIII. This installment follows Cromwell's intricate maneuvering to secure Anne Boleyn's downfall and Thomas More's execution, offering a compelling and nuanced portrayal of power, politics, and personal ambition.