Hilary Mantel takes Cromwell down

Cromwell offers Mantel historic win - 9th March 2020

The final book in Dame Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall trilogy finally hit the shelves last week. People braved the rain in midnight queues eager to get their hands on the long-awaited new historical novel, ‘The Mirror and the Light’, which concludes Mantel’s series tracing the rise and fall of King Henry VIII's chief adviser, Thomas Cromwell.

Born in 1485, Cromwell rose from humble beginnings to hold unrivalled power over England’s political and religious life for a decade. He ruthlessly dispatched those who stood against him until he met the same fate, when he was executed on London’s Tower Hill on 28 July 1540.

The first two highly acclaimed volumes - ‘Wolf Hall’ in 2009 followed by ‘Bring Up the Bodies’ in 2012 - dealt with commonly known aspects of the period: the fall of Thomas More, Henry VIII’s break with Rome, his marriage to Anne Boleyn and her demise. However, this final instalment depicts less famous historical material, including Henry VIII’s next three marriages and a parade of gruesome, state-sponsored executions. Mantel reveals to readers the extent of Cromwell’s cold, calculating and tormented mind.

Hilary Mantel is among the most acclaimed English writers today. She is the first woman and first British author to have won the prestigious Booker Prize twice. This highly coveted literary prize is awarded annually for the best original novel written in the English language and published in the United Kingdom. Already praised by critics, ‘The Mirror and the Light’ is predicted to win Mantel ‘the Booker’ for a historic third time, with one critic, Stephanie Merritt, declaring, “someone give the Booker Prize judges the rest of the year off.”