Bring Up the Bodies (2012) by Hilary Mantel is that kind of book. It is the
sequel to Wolf Hall (2009), a brilliant
work that won the prestigious Man Booker Prize. The author, a remarkably gifted
novelist with few peers, continues the compelling story of Thomas Cromwell, the
lowborn man who rose to become one of Henry VIII’s closest advisers. The hero
of the story, a historical enigma with a vague background, is fleshed out by
Mantel as a boy who fled his father’s beatings to fight for the French, study
law and become fluent in French, Latin and Italian.
Three years earlier
Cromwell helped Henry annul his marriage to Katherine so he could marry the
younger Anne Boleyn--a direct challenge of the church’s power that set off a tsunami
of religious, political and societal turmoil that reverberated throughout 16th-century
Europe. But Anne has committed two unforgivable errors: she has failed to give
the king a son and grown gaunt and shrewish. He wants to be rid of Anne and it
is up to Cromwell to give the king what he wants.
Bring Up the Bodies, like its predecessor,
is written in the present tense. It is an excellent choice because telling the
story in the active tense allows the events to unfold before us. This approach
ratchets up the tension and heightens the suspense with every page: all it
takes is one wrong move and all could be lost.
This novel more than
stands on its own. It might even be a more compelling read than the
award-winning Wolf Hall. Mantel does
not just make Cromwell powerful but sympathetic—a remarkable feat for a
character described in the first volume as “like a murderer”. And she accomplishes
it without violating the historical record. Bring Up the Bodies just might be
the best historical novel of 2012.
Review by Peter Critchley from the Vernon Branch
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