Wolf Hall

By: Hilary Mantel

Narrated by: Simon Slater

Length: 24 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

In the ruthless arena of King Henry VIII's court, only one man dares to gamble his life to win the king's favor and ascend to the heights of political powerEngland 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. The quest for the king's freedom destroys his adviser, the brilliant Cardinal Wolsey, and leaves a power vacuum. Into this impasse steps Thomas Cromwell. Cromwell is a wholly original man, a charmer and a bully, both idealist and opportunist, astute in reading people and a demon of energy: he is also a consummate politician, hardened by his personal losses, 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? In inimitable style, Hilary Mantel presents a picture of a half-made society on the cusp of change, where individuals fight or embrace their fate with passion and courage.

With a vast array of characters, overflowing with incident, the novel re-creates an era when the personal and political are separated by a hairbreadth, where success brings unlimited power but a single failure means death.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2009 Hilary Mantel (P)2009 Macmillan Audio

Wolf hall

loved the narrator. ..very insightful. ..I would recommend as far as historical fiction..
love those English novels

Wonderful novel, dubious narration

The reader of Wolf Hall uses a lugubrious tone, falling depressively on the end of each line.This is unfortunate since not all of the story is sad! I notice they changed the reader for the second in the series, "Bring Up the Bodies." I was enough put off by the reading style that I read the second in ebook form.

Beautifully Written, Historically Accurate

Where does Wolf Hall rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It is equal to my copy of Gustav Flaubert's "Madame Bovary", Mantel being one of the greatest writers of our time.

What did you like best about this story?

"Wolf Hall" has a lyrical and deadly style. Ms. Mantel does not, for once, portray Thomas Cromwell as an inky, little slacker, but a full-bodied thinking man of the 21st Century.

Which character – as performed by Simon Slater – was your favorite?

Absolutely perfect.

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

What moved me the most was Cromwell's tender memories of his lost girls, and his steel eyed interrogation of Thomas More.

Any additional comments?

Best book I've had in decades!

Wonderful book, terrific writing

Hilary Mantel makes historical figures so real you feel like they're people you know or have met somewhere. The narration is so good you feel like you are in the same room with them. I highly recommend this audiobook. Only complaint is that there are so many characters -- and half of them are named Thomas or Henry -- that it helps to have a cheat sheet. I found one online.

Word crafter extraordinaire

Excellent-in historical fiction it gets no better. You are there in the scenes, you feel, you see, you smell.

Great book

Great book good performance. Highly recommended for anyone interested in history. Great actors and great storyline

Great performance

The book was written and read well, but the story itself dragged.

I’m glad it’s over.

Well crafted historical fiction

Sometimes hard to tell the fact from the fiction. This was a well done story based on a very complicated time. It is a complex story but mostly easy to follow.

An interesting take on the Church of England

If you could sum up Wolf Hall in three words, what would they be?

History with insight

Who was your favorite character and why?

Liked Henry 8th and of course Cromwell

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

First one and I look forward to reading many more

If you could take any character from Wolf Hall out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Cromwell to chatt about his life experiences

Any additional comments?

Glad I read this series and am better informed alittle about History

Fabulous book, so-so narrator

This is an exciting investigation into the life of someone you might have thought was just one more petty bad guy in the snakepit court of Henry VIII. But Thomas Cromwell emerges as uniquely fascinating: intelligent ruthless and yet ethical-in-an-odd-16th-century-way, operating in a very dangerous landscape. Mantel uses a minimalist touch to sketch the intense political maneuverings and treacheries and tragedies that made up daily life at the close of the middle ages. You have to pay attention and work a little, but the reward is that the world of her novel grows up around you, pulling you utterly in.

But, alas, Simon Slater's reading is not equal to the material. His voice carries the same sarcastic bite in every situation and for every character, whether they???re discussing cutlery or murder. The book is a little hard to follow and can be confusing, and although Slater does try to distinguish characters by changing his voice, unfortunately his tone - which I think is actually more important - never changes. The characters all sound like they have exactly the same personality: cynical and ironic, with a nasty little drawl. I gave up listening to it with my husband and I???m reading it aloud to him myself. I'm not a great reader but I can be straightforward and simple, which is a better choice for this marvelous book.

Bonus tip: two paintings mentioned in the book, the portraits of Cromwell and Thomas More by Hans Holbein are hanging facing each other in the Frick Collection in New York. After you've read Wolf Hall, it's a great treat to go see them.