Wolf Hall

A Novel

By: Hilary Mantel

Narrated by: Ben Miles

Length: 25 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.

Winner of the 2009 Man Booker Prize 

Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction

A New York Times best seller

England 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 20 years and marry Anne Boleyn. The pope and most of Europe opposes him. Into this impasse steps Thomas Cromwell: a wholly original man, a charmer and a bully, both idealist and opportunist, astute in reading people, and 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's Wolf Hall is "a darkly brilliant reimagining of life under Henry VIII.... Magnificent." (The Boston Globe)

A Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt and Company

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

©2009 Hilary Mantel (P)2020 Macmillan Audio

Excellent performance by Ben Miles

Hilary Mantel cast Ben Miles to read the Wolf Hall trilogy, and it’s a revelation. He played Cromwell with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and Mantel has stated that his voice was in her mind as she wrote The Mirror and the Light. He recorded that and went back to do new recordings of the previously released Wolf Hall and Bringing Up the Bodies. When you are choosing which audio version to purchase, I highly recommend this one!

Loved the narration!

I absolutely fell deep into this audio book, enthralled by both the narration and story. First the story- I have always been obsessed with Tudor history and read all of Alison Weir and Phillipa Gregory’s books on the time period. I was thoroughly impressed with looking at the same Tudor story from a very different point of view, Thomas Cromwell. I have always considered him more of a minor character in the shadows and it was refreshing to learn that he was actually crucial to the entire downfall of Anne and had such an intense connection to Wolsey. I ended up changing my opinion of both Cardinal Wolsey and Cromwell after only a short time listening to this. I found myself wishing I had known them both. Hilary Mantel does an awesome job building a person in them both, where the reader feels like they are inside their minds and a fly on the wall. Never got bored, found myself listening to the book every second I could!

Ben Miles does a bad ass job at the narration, the changing dialects and accents. I loved his voice, found it calming and engaging. I felt like the narration gave life to Cromwell especially. I tried listening to the story read by the other narrator and when I found this one, I was instantly impressed with Ben Miles and got the other audio books read by him. Some people said they didn’t like his pauses or clearing his throat and I just took these all as creative license giving Cromwell and especially Norfolk their personalities. I was constantly smiling at his voices! I can’t imagine a better pairing of an amazing story where you fall in love with their world and a narrator who acts out each character! One of my favorites!

Superb narration, but keep a character index at hand

The narration is superb, with major characters cleanly drawn by tone of voice and accent. But there are a LOT of characters - too many to keep track of for me, until I found a web page that briefly described them all. I kept it handy so that I could remind myself of who was being referred to when they reappeared.

Great Narration

Ben does a great job of making the dialogue sound truly conversational instead of just being read. His reading is a performance vs a straight narration. The story of Cromwell is very interesting to me and I learned much from this book. I’m onto the second in the series read by Ben.

Brilliant!

The author brings the reader to the era and the intricacies of court politics. And yet she also details personal challenges and motivations. Cromwell, the main character, is shown as a brilliant, caring renaissance man--ahead of his time. Even with changes of points of view the story comes alive and shows us that genius is not just a product of our age. Interesting, engaging and simply brilliant. We will be looking for more Hilary Mantel books.

Its A Winner!

Wonderful writing, but the narration is a bit unusual. "He" is "Cromwell" most of the time. Once you acclimate, you are right in the room with him.
Ben Miles' performance is brilliant.

Enjoyed this immensely but…

The writing and the story is amazing but unfortunately I could here the reader/performer lick his lips, swallow and make throat notices through the entire book, it was off putting because it happened at a frequent and also jarring spots in the texts. I wish that had not been part of the performance, because it seemed like a device the reader used. I would definitely listen again but really hope they re-record this one!

Excellent Book

Well researched. Thorough, interesting perspective. Would read more from this author. King Henry V111 is a popular subject for many authors. This was refreshing.

Spectacular Narration, Some Confusing Points

Overall, "Wolf Hall" is a most excellent, entertaining read. Ben Miles's narration is spot on. Narrating this is no small feat. He does all the accents well, and translates the character's moods. Namely, he makes the reader see Anne Boelyn, one character he finds most distasteful. One thing about this book is it is hard to follow. The the third first person narrative is complicated, and one never, or rather has to decipher who is often being discussed or doing the discussing. As this is Thomas Cromwell's story, it is still confusing. And too, the flashbacks from early in his life to the present day aren't always clear. But this aside, the reader just has to remember this is Cromwell's story, as this is not normal for a book on the Tudor dynasty. Hilary Mantel truly did a masterful job of making this unique in that way. All in all, this is a masterpiece.

Beautifully Inteicate

Wolf Hall is one of the most beautifully written books I’ve ever read. The author’s skill in weaving the subtleties of the historic period, including its religious, economic and political tides and the personalities involved is astounding. The more you know about that era, the more she tweaks your interest.