He, Cromwell

 I know I am late to the Wolf Hall party, but I am working hard to catch up. Last month I read Wolf Hall (2009), the first book in Hilary Mantel's award winning trilogy about Thomas Cromwell. After a brief interlude to read other things, this month I completed Bring Up the Bodies (2012), the Booker Prize winning sequel.

Picking up where the previous novel finished, Bring Up the Bodies begins in 1535 with King Henry VIII travelling to Wolf Hall, the Seymour family home. Cromwell is now Master Secretary to the King's Privy Council, a trusted adviser to the King. Here they meet Jane Seymour, the attractive young woman who had served in the court of both Queen Catherine and Queen Anne.

The King sees in Jane an innocence that is not apparent in his current wife, Anne Boleyn. While Anne has given him a daughter, Elizabeth, she has not yet given him the heir he desires. In their brief marriage, their hopes of a son had been dashed by miscarriage and stillbirth. The couple frequently argue and he has grown tired of her.  The King now expresses that Anne must have used some witchcraft or wiles to lure him into this marriage and he must free himself from her grasp.

Cromwell is tasked with negotiating a separation, to annul this marriage and free the King to marry Jane. He attempts to send Anne to a nunnery, but her brother, Lord Rochford refuses. Cromwell then hears reports of Anne's alleged indiscretions. Rumours abound that Anne regularly bedded others, including an incestuous relationship with her brother. Whether or not these rumours are true, Cromwell has what he needs to end the marriage. The Queen is charged with adultery, incest and treason and sent to the Tower of London.  

Following the trial and execution of Anne, and her co-accused (brother George Boleyn, and four alleged suitors), Bring Up the Bodies concludes in 1536 with the marriage of Jane and Henry. Thomas Cromwell has been elevated once again, and is now a Baron. 

I often find second novels in trilogies to be a bit weak - sort of a half-baked bridge between the two main books. So I was delighted to find Bring Up The Bodies to be a fully formed novel in its own right, one I actually enjoyed more than Wolf Hall. While I still struggle with Mantel's writing style and the lack of manageable chapter breaks, I appreciated this novel more for its depiction of Cromwell and the razor-sharp dialogue. Now around 50, he grows more self-reflective at the same time he becomes more ruthless. I was also intrigued by the depiction of justice - with show trials, lack of representation, and no way to possibly defend oneself.

As with Wolf Hall, I read along to the audiobook narrated by Ben Miles. I enjoy his interpretation of the various characters and his pacing (although I listen at 1.5x speed!).  

Following the first two novels, I have now watched the first season of the BBC series Wolf Hall (2015), with Cromwell wonderfully portrayed by Mark Rylance, Damian Lewis as Henry VIII, and Claire Foy as Anne Boleyn. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in the story of Cromwell who does not have the wherewithal to tackle Mantel's epic novels. 

Having come this far, I commit myself to finishing this trilogy and reading The Mirror and the Light (2020) and watching the second season of Wolf Hall which covers the end of this story.