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Wolf Hall

Wolf HallAuthor: Hilary Mantel
Publisher: Fourth Estate
Category: Book

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Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars reviews
Sales Rank: 839

Media: Hardcover
Edition: Special Edition
Pages: 672
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.2
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.2 x 2.1

ISBN: 0007230184
EAN: 9780007230181
ASIN: 0007230184

Publication Date: April 30, 2009
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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Product Description
# Publisher: Fourth Estate Ltd (30 April 2009) # Language English # ISBN-10: 0007230184 # ISBN-13: 978-0007230181

Customer Reviews:
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3 out of 5 stars Worthy but no need for it to be so confusing   October 21, 2009
Mr. Paul J. Wyatt (Derby, England)
364 out of 386 found this review helpful

Have finished this book and am sure it's very worthy of all the accolades but I really found this quite a hard slog and I'm quite a prolific reader. The story is really interesting but I am so glad to see other reviewers on here that had the same horrendous problem of trying to follow who was talking whenever there is any dialogue. Fair enough to refer to Cromwell as "he" if you're going to stick to that and use it exclusively, but when you use "he" for other people during the same conversation, it's really confusing and I found myself having to re-read paragraphs containing dialogue (as a result this took me so much longer to read than normal and I feel like I've read it 3 times). Obviously am not one to comment on such a good writer but it would have been so much more of a pleasure (rather than a chore) to read if it had been either written in first person or clearer reference used as to who is talking.


5 out of 5 stars A magnificent tale   June 16, 2009
R. W. Mackenzie
463 out of 498 found this review helpful

Anyone who paid attention in history classes at school will need little background to the events of Wolf Hall. The key events of the story take place over just less than a ten year period from the 1520s to the 1530s. Mantel has taken what is, supposedly, Britain's best loved history topic, Henry VIII and his divorce from Catherine of Aragon, marriage to Anne Boleyn and the resulting split with Rome and has melded it into a compelling story.

She has obviously had some of her work done for her - the key dramatic events, characters, plots and intrigue are fairly heavily based in fact, but what Mantel has done is to breathe life and substance into the historial figures to make them loveable, hateable, complex characters. At the centre of her book stands Thomas Cromwell, a man from humble origins who rose to unprecedented power in England as Henry's chief minister. Cromwell is beautifully portrayed and his personal relationships, be they loving, tragic or political are fascinating reading. The relationships with Wolsey and More in particular are executed wonderfully (no pun intended in the latter case).

My only grumble with the book were that some events are included, but skated over in short passages and other events are included, but drag a little. This is probably an inevitable part of a historical novel covering such a long period of time; you can't simply leap forward 2 years and avoid the need to understand certain intervening events. However, whilst this slows the pace of the book in places, I enjoyed the book so much that it didn't particularly spoil it for me (indeed, those who prefer a fast paced novel are probably not going to enjoy Wolf Hall).

The book ends shortly after the death of Thomas More, and I can't be only one who wonders (and hopes) whether we might yet see a second, "decline and fall" book. I'd certainly love to read it.


3 out of 5 stars Couldn't get into it but its so worthy I blamed myself!   July 23, 2009
sam155 (Wales)
200 out of 231 found this review helpful

Its 500 years since Henry VIII came to the throne and a raft of books and documentaries have emerged accordingly. I am fascinated by the Tudor period and have briefly dipped into Hilary Mantel's work by reading the marvellous "An Experiment In Love".

However, despite getting to around page 87 and liking the angle (its told from Thomas Cromwell's point of view), I just couldn't plough any further.

Its a clever book, and weighs the same as a brick, so I thought I was in for a treat, but despite the profound detail and incredible research, I just lost interest. Since its so intelligently written, I can't help feeling its my fault. However, I am not afraid of heavy going tomes being an English Graduate but this saw me off I'm afraid.

The scenes and transitions made it hard to follow and I often had to turn back a few pages to see who was who again. After about the fifth time, this irritated me despite my friendly intentions towards the book and I gave up.

You may have more luck then me, but it just didn't "flow".


5 out of 5 stars Insightful, intuitive - brilliant - if you read one book this year, it should be this one.   October 11, 2009
B. A. V. MIDDLEMAST-NEAL (Essex, UK)
40 out of 46 found this review helpful

"Wolf Hall" is a fictionalised biography of Thomas Cromwell and covers his rise from an unpromising and brutalised childhood, through his involvement in the divorce of Katherine of Aragon and the subsequent marriage of Anne Boleyn by Henry VIII. It finishes shortly after the death of Thomas More.

This is brilliantly written; the author has the ability to effortlessly enfold chunks of history into the narrative. There is no clunky gear change from the homely business of the Cromwell household into an explanation of Pope Clement's position on Henry's marriage to Katherine. Everything is brilliantly entwined.

Each character is exquisitely and finely drawn (even the minor and seemingly insignificant ones). It's well-researched, thorough and absorbing.

This is not a quick read. But I have read every Booker Prize winner for the last fifteen years and this one is, in my opinion, the most eloquently and beautifully written. I have read other books by Hilary Mantel (my favourite being "Beyond Black") but this is on a completely different level and is in contention to be one of my favourite books of all time.

If you read just one book this year, make it this one.




4 out of 5 stars Heavy going but beguiling!   September 1, 2010
Name Withheld (Hereford, Herefordshire)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

Reading this book has been a tough slog but I have thoroughly enjoyed the history about which I knew a bit already. Some of the writing is very good and evocative of the period but the use of 'he' for the main character is sometimes awkward. I am pleased that I finished the book and I shall now, most likely, be getting the sequel despite not liking the writing style! It's the total immersion in the period that I enjoyed but I found the sheer number of characters difficult (though there is plenty of help with that in the first few pages of the book to which I did have to refer a lot).

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