Can one ever have too many retellings of Tudor drama? Of course not. This week Library Director Adam Pellman tells us about Bring Up the Bodies, Hilary Mantel's take on how Thomas Cromwell worked to seal the fate of Anne Boleyn.
This is the second book in a trilogy of historical novels about the reign and successive marriages of King Henry VIII, centered on Henry's brilliant, ambitious, and savvy advisor, Master Secretary Thomas Cromwell. These characters, and this period in English history, have been the subject of countless novels, films, and plays, but it's hard to imagine they've ever been so richly imagined as in Hilary Mantel's books. The characterization, descriptive prose, and dialogue are all so beautifully executed (if you'll pardon my use of that term given the unfortunate fate of King Henry's wife in this novel, Anne Boleyn), that Tudor history and the inner life of Cromwell come to gripping, vivid life. The first novel in the trilogy, the prize-winning Wolf Hall, charted Cromwell's rise against the backdrop of King Henry's ongoing battle to end his marriage to his first wife, Katherine, and marry the young Anne Boleyn. In this sequel, Henry has become disillusioned with Anne after her failure to bear him a son, and growing gossip about her possible adultery and treason. Cromwell must navigate the complexities of power, politics, religion, family, morality, and his own precarious position as he works to bring about Anne's downfall.
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