Wolf Hall (2009) by Hilary Mantel is a groundbreaking historical novel that reimagines the rise of Thomas Cromwell, the shrewd and enigmatic advisor to King Henry VIII, during the tumultuous years of the English Reformation. Winner of the Man Booker Prize, the book immerses readers in the 16th-century Tudor court, where power, religion, and personal ambition collide.
The story begins with Cromwell’s brutal childhood and traces his ascent from blacksmith’s son to the king’s right-hand man, orchestrating Henry’s divorce from Katherine of Aragon and marriage to Anne Boleyn. Mantel’s Cromwell is a complex, modern-minded protagonist—calculating yet compassionate, a self-made man navigating a world of inherited privilege. Her present-tense narration and rich, visceral prose (“he smells blood, his own, he’s no stranger to it“) bring the era to life with startling intimacy.
A masterclass in historical fiction, Wolf Hall challenges traditional villainous portrayals of Cromwell, offering a nuanced exploration of loyalty, survival, and the price of reform.
Sequel: Bring Up the Bodies, The Mirror & the Light
