The Mirror & the Light

A Novel

By: Hilary Mantel

Narrated by: Ben Miles

Length: 38 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

This program is read by Ben Miles, who played Thomas Cromwell in the Royal Shakespeare Company adaptation of Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies.

This program includes a bonus conversation between Ben Miles and Hilary Mantel.

“If you cannot speak truth at a beheading, when can you speak it?”

With The Mirror & the Light, Hilary Mantel brings to a triumphant close the trilogy she began with her peerless, Booker Prize-winning novels, Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. She traces the final years of Thomas Cromwell, the boy from nowhere who climbs to the heights of power, offering a defining portrait of predator and prey, of a ferocious contest between present and past, between royal will and a common man’s vision: Of a modern nation making itself through conflict, passion and courage.

The story begins in May 1536: Anne Boleyn is dead, decapitated in the space of a heartbeat by a hired French executioner. As her remains are bundled into oblivion, Cromwell breakfasts with the victors. The blacksmith’s son from Putney emerges from the spring’s bloodbath to continue his climb to power and wealth, while his formidable master, Henry VIII, settles to short-lived happiness with his third queen, Jane Seymour.

Cromwell, a man with only his wits to rely on, has no great family to back him, no private army. Despite rebellion at home, traitors plotting abroad and the threat of invasion testing Henry’s regime to the breaking point, Cromwell’s robust imagination sees a new country in the mirror of the future. All of England lies at his feet, ripe for innovation and religious reform. But as fortune’s wheel turns, Cromwell’s enemies are gathering in the shadows. The inevitable question remains: How long can anyone survive under Henry’s cruel and capricious gaze?

Eagerly awaited and eight years in the making, The Mirror & the Light completes Cromwell’s journey from self-made man to one of the most feared, influential figures of his time. Portrayed by Mantel with pathos and terrific energy, Cromwell is as complex as he is unforgettable: A politician and a fixer, a husband and a father, a man who both defied and defined his age.

The Telegraph (UK) Best Books of the Year - 2020
Minneapolis Star Tribune Holiday Book Recommendations - 2020
Time Magazine Best Books of the Year - 2020
An NPR Best Book of the Year - 2020
The Guardian (UK) Best Books of the Year - 2020
USA Today Best Books of the Year - 2020
The Times Literary Supplement Books of the Year - 2020
Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the Year - 2020
Man Booker Award - Nominee
New York Times Book Review Notable Books of the Year - 2020

A Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt and Company

"Ben Miles - Group Captain Peter Townsend in The Crown - has, in addition to narrating this final volume, taken on the massive task of delivering Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies as well. He also played Cromwell in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Wolf Hall Parts One & Two, and captures again the man’s voice, its taint of baseness, its ups and downs and quiet ruthlessness." (Washington Post)

"Miles’ familiarity with Mantel’s portrayal of Cromwell pervades his performance of The Mirror & the Light, which traces Cromwell’s fall from greatness, beginning with the aftermath of Anne Boleyn’s beheading and ending with his own. Miles’ voice carries the power-hungry statesman’s monumental final act with ease and a delicate nuance, as only someone with a deep understanding of the story could." (BookPage)

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2019 Hilary Mantel (P)2019 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"The many listeners enthralled by the earlier two volumes in Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall trilogy will find all their expectations met in this final installment... Here is a narrative achievement of the highest order." (AudioFile magazine, Earphones Award winner)

Can’t bear to see it end

I’ve been holding off reading the last hour. I know how it’s going to end but for some reason I am waiting for history to change. This is a LOOOOONNG book. There are places where it seems to slow down too much. But Hilary Mantel is incapable of writing a bad sentence. Every word captures the sights and sounds of sixteenth century England. There is so much here that applies to the present time including the social distancing precautions back in the day when there was no remedy for sweating sickness, measles or the plague.
I will have to read it again- provided I can get through the last heartbreaking hour.

Magnificent! Vivid!

The entire trilogy is amazing, and this last book was one eagerly anticipated. What a story, what a man, what a writer, and so well read. I would not have chosen to live in such turbulent times, but Hilary Mantel allows us to be a part of history that changed the world. Thank you Hilary and Ben!

Outstanding!

Hands down this was the best historical novel I have ever read. It was so atmospheric both in story and narration that I felt I was there. I highly recommend this one!

Outstanding

This is simply an amazing performance. Probably the best of the 3 (which i didn’t think was possible). The combinations incredible writing with a top drawer reading make this well worth the 38 hour investment.
I was very moved by the story.

Exceptional, extraordinary, and evocative

The three books in this series bring to daily life, the times and circumstances of the early 1500s in England. The writing is superb with detail and nuance. The narration is among the best I've ever heard. I'm blind and all my books are must/needs audio. I know of what I speak. By the art and skill of author and narrator, the character of Thomas Cromwell is so delicately unwoven that we can grasp it, even as it eludes us. I am privileged to be a very very distant ancestor of Thomas Cromwell. These books are especially meaningful to me. The story of the Reformation is also told in the three books. It's a complicated, yet simple story, told in the detail it deserves in history.

Perfection

The Mirror and the Light is a masterpiece.. an exquisite novel that brings to life the extraordinary times of ThomasCromwell, loyal servant and advisor to to the vicious and cruel Henry the 8th. Listening to the book is a deeply amazing experience made so by the gorgeous narration and acting of Ben Miles.
Hillary Mantel’s research and writing shine in a work of art. I’m so grateful for this beautiful book!!!

Simply Outstanding

This spectacularly narrated book gripped me from start to finish. I never wanted it to end. The drama, the fluidity of writing, the unique perspective all drew me in deeper and deeper, until I inhabited Thomas Cromwell's world. It is not to be missed.

Great Series

Such good performance. Made this era of history fascinating. Writing is top notch and compelling.

Brilliant!

The entire trilogy was wonderfully compelling. I was dumbfounded to see any negative reviews. Naysayers must have short attention spans.

Gorgeous book, gorgeous narration

My daughter and I have so loved listening to this book and the two before it. Hilary Mantel’s writing is completely immersive, as delicious as the era-appropriate dishes Thurston prepares for Cromwell and others. Ben Miles’ narration is fantastic as well! Though there are times when Mantel’s writing is so exquisite that I find myself wishing I were reading along as well as listening so I could underline particular passages, I feel my experience of this book and its characters is so much the richer for listening to Ben Miles’ perform it all. I will miss this series very much.