Bring Up the Bodies

A Novel

By: Hilary Mantel

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 14 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

Man Booker Prize, Fiction, 2012

The sequel to Hilary Mantel's 2009 Man Booker Prize winner and New York Times best seller, Wolf Hall delves into the heart of Tudor history with the downfall of Anne Boleyn. Though he battled for seven years to marry her, Henry is disenchanted with Anne Boleyn. She has failed to give him a son and her sharp intelligence and audacious will alienate his old friends and the noble families of England. When the discarded Katherine dies in exile from the court, Anne stands starkly exposed, the focus of gossip and malice. At a word from Henry, Thomas Cromwell is ready to bring her down. Over three terrifying weeks, Anne is ensnared in a web of conspiracy, while the demure Jane Seymour stands waiting her turn for the poisoned wedding ring. But Anne and her powerful family will not yield without a ferocious struggle. Hilary Mantel's Bring Up the Bodies follows the dramatic trial of the queen and her suitors for adultery and treason. To defeat the Boleyns, Cromwell must ally with his natural enemies, the papist aristocracy. What price will he pay for Anne's head?

©2012 Hilary Mantel (P)2012 Macmillan Audio

darkness descending

dusk falls over the court; shadows and secrets, hidden now revealed grudges paid. what is wanting? one male child. for this, blood flows in the Tower; the court is infected with innuendo, rumor, hypocrisy then death. cromwell, on whom the first volume of the trilogy shines promise, promotion, wealth in good service to state (king and subjects) and church, is caught in the whirlpool of henry's demands for a male heir. cromwell's work for the king demands dissolution of boleyns' coterie. is it defensible that, while this same coterie was responsible for the downfall of cromwell's patron, cardinal wolsey, cromwell takes his redress by dealing death in charging dubious conspiracy? the promise of cromwell becomes tarnished. enemies lie in wait. he may be his own nemesis.

Mantel Pulls the History out of the History

100 pages in and it is hard to miss that this isn't just a nominal sequel to Wolf Hall, but rather the first book's logical annex. There is no drop-off in complexity. No laxity of language. Still Mantel manages to shift form, change structure and reinvent her style. She even manages to give the character of Thomas Cromwell more depth and complexity, a feat which seemed near impossible after finishing Wolf Hall.

Anyway, Mantel is one of the finest writers of English prose living. Each sentence is crafted like a unique piece in an Italian inlaid music box. She has a purpose for each comma and can make words seem to dance, fall and recover right off the page. She pulls the history out of the history and has written Tower interrogations so deft and chilling, one is left afraid of both language and the law. As readers, we watch Cromwell destroy men, overthrow queens, and change history with words, paper and a sharp understanding of men's motives. We aren't afraid because Cromwell is a monster, but because he is so heroically human.

A Wonderfully Nuanced Book

I think that Hilary Mantel is an wonderful author. Her story telling; her use of language; her ability to bring to life a far away period of time weaves a literary spell. I wish the book had been twice as long!!

Now I need to wait for her to write/complete the final book in this triology.

The England of Hilary Mantel is totalitarian state. Simon Vance, one of my favorite readers, reads this book beautifully but, all the same, his voice lacks the necessary malevolence that the narrator of Wolf Hall was able to achieve.

I hope that Audible will soon bring Hilary Mantel's other books into their library.

Better Than the First One!

If you could sum up Bring Up the Bodies in three words, what would they be?

Ann Boleyn? Inconceivable!

What did you like best about this story?

Mantel's 2009 Booker Prize winning effort "Wolf Hall", to which this novel is a sequel, suffered, I felt, from a lack of editing. "Bring Up the Bodies" is tauter and, for that reason, actually better.

Have you listened to any of Simon Vance???s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Vance is always a first-rate narrator, and he doesn't disappoint here.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Anne's final days

Different Narrator Makes a Big Difference!

1. Beautiful, creative, award-worthy writing and a new perspective on a timeless historic tale.

2. Stands alone.
It is not necessary to get the first book in the series (Wolf Hall) as Bring Up the Bodies does fine as a stand-alone work, but I am very glad that listened to Wolf Hall prior to Bring Up the Bodies as knowing details and characters in the back story was immensely helpful.

3. New narrator is a big improvement.
Unlike Wolf Hall, Bring Up the Bodies does beautifully in the audio format and was very easy to follow because the narrator does such an excellent job. Though Wolf Hall is just as good if not better than Bring Up the Bodies, I gave an unfavorable review to Wolf Hall because I found it hard to follow and hard to stomach in audio format. I mentioned that the narrator might be the cause of this, but I wasn't sure. After listening to a different narrator for Bring Up the Bodies, I am100% sure that the change in narrator made all the difference in my listening experience.

Bring up the next volume!

The second volume in Hilary Mantel's historical novelization of Thomas Cromwell in the court of Henry VIII suffers from one major shortcoming: there's not enough of it. It's noticeably shorter than the first which only exacerbates the misery of waiting for the third.

Mantel's mastery of language and her power to immerse us in a starkly real past almost render the 16th Century into a parallel contemporary universe. The dark intrigue is as palpable as the odors of the kitchens in Cromwell's estate. One almost feels as if one reads the book by flickering taper.

The second volume is murkier than the first - Cromwell is less sympathetic, more calculating as increased power frees and constrains him at the same time. Mantel captures the tension admirably and seasons the account, as ever, with the lofty contrivances of littler people; the "extras" on the stage are all full characters.

Bring up the next one!

intricate engrossing and dark

I felt like the book was consuming pieces of me. it is very well done and leaves you thinking. You are in the mind of Cromwell as he goes through the day through his business through his thoughts of the great and small.

Well done...but sad

The story of Anne Boleyn has always fascinated me. I doubt we will ever know the actual truth. This book is very well written and I love the development of the characters. It gives perspective on their lives, emotions, and choices that they had to make. I am looking forward to the last boo. I am sure here will be more sadness reading about the downfall of Thomas Cromwell.

Slower Than Wolf Hall and Hard to Follow

This sequel to Wolf Hall moved much more slowly than Mantel's first book in the series. Of course, the ending was never in doubt--we read/listen to such books to see how the characters get to the known end.

I found the book, as interesting as it was and as well written as it was, difficult to follow in audio form. There is a lot of introspective dialogue, even some dream sequences. Simon Vance is a superb narrator, but I wish he had done more to differentiate these introspective sequences for the listener.

Power corrupts......

It's hard to overstate just how good this novel is. Mantel breathes life into characters we have vague notions of from our history books. A rumination on power, survival, and human folly, "Bring Up the Bodies" is flat-out terrific. It works as a stand alone book, but for the complete experience, precede it by reading Wolf Hall.

I can't wait for volume three.