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

Fine book!

The first book of the trilogy was enthralling, carefully executed with wit and charm, and a brim full of cleverness.

loved this

The language, the imagery, the characters, and the history all made this an experience, more than just a reading.

Different

Enjoyed the book took a while to get in to it - interesting listen - reader does a good job

A most excellent novel

Mantel wrote in a beautiful and lively style, creating vivid characters who are roundly and fully drawn - in some cases hung and quartered as well. She manages the trick of simultaneously adhering to what we know of the history (a tale usually told by the victors, not the victims) and filling it out with motives and imagined inner and private dialogues. As her Cromwell adroitly maneuvers through the dangers of Henry VIII’s court like a WWII aircraft carrier evading simultaneous torpedo attacks from sea marines below and dive bombers from above, the reader develops a sense of the existential stakes for both individuals and nations.

I highly recommend the audio version and commend the excellent reading and audio quality.

awful narration

I couldn't stand to listen to one of the characters due to his overacting and the sound of his voice. I couldn't get past the second chapter.

The sense of the times

Hillary Mantel has given me so much with Wolf Hall. England in the years of Henry VIII, a mesmerizing character study of Thomas Cromwell, and his genius, a different take on Thomas Moore, Anne Boleyn, Mary Boleyn, all the characters humanized and accessible, hours of entertainment and gorgeous writing, and the leaving sense of wanting MORE!

Amazing on all counts

The narration of this book is amazingly well done-all kinds of accents and characters. I love the reading almost as much as the book. Yes, if you are not familiar with all the characters of Henry VIII's reign, you might have trouble following-wikipedia a bit and you'll get a better picture. But I believe with a little work a novice can enjoy this book utterly. And if you are a Tudor history buff, this book is a special delight. Hillary Mantel has put together both a literary and historical fiction novel. The writing and research are top rate-no wonder she won the Booker. She really gets inside these people's heads and the dialogue is far from trite and ordinary-her research on the culture of Tudor England shows through- what people read, ate, wore, thought, the city landscape, all very memorable. This is no light weight novel.

Perfect Book, Almost Perfect Audio Book

Wolf Hall is a perfect book. The audiobook is almost perfect. Thomas More's vocal characterization is drippingly evil and snakelike, and it doesn't fit the characterization in the book, which presents more as earnestly fanatical and unexpectedly sly. Several times the narrator confuses the voices, due to the confusing pronouns in the book. He will do a Cromwell voice, for example, when Thomas More is talking.

The Wosley voice is perfect, and Henry sounds regal. Anne, if possible, sounds over-regal, and Chapuys is fun to listen to.

Wolf Hall

This book is great! An old story told in the clever perspective of Thomas Cromwell. As great as the book is it doesn't compare with the narrator. Simon Slater is a genius. With his voices and inflections he pulls us into 16th century England as if we were living there amidst all the drama and angst.

Hard to Follow

I was halfway through part 2 of this 3-part book before I got comfortable with it. If you stick with it, you'll probably enjoy it. The author made is a more difficult read/listen than it needed to be, by refusing to use any attribution for quotes other than "he said" -- or nothing at all. When there are 3 men talking, it's hard to determine who said what. The narrator did a pretty good job of differentiating the various characters, but lack of attribution didn't help the flow of the story. And it's written in the present tense, which I found annoying (it was 500 years ago). That being said, this is an interesting and sympathetic portrayal of Thomas Cromwell, who is usually shown as one of the major villains of Henry VII's reign. It also shows Thomas More in a less-than-saintly light. The story only takes us to More's execution, so doesn't show Cromwell's eventual downfall.

If you're interested in this period, you'll find the book worthwhile. If Tudor England is new to you, I'd advise starting somewhere else.