As we head back from the beach and into a more serious September, Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel is one reason to make historical fiction a habit. Winner of the 2009 Man Booker Prize, it also was on the Best Books of the Year list for Time, Boston Globe, Christian Science Monitor, The Economist, Financial Times, and the New Yorker. Wolf Hall is written from the point of view of a self-made man, Thomas Cromwell, and how he rose from obscurity to become Henry VIII’s right-hand man and help initiate huge changes in English culture. In my experience, reading about sixteenth-century Britain has never been this compelling.

Mantel’s prose is simple, precise, and quick reading. Wolf Hall itself is not quick reading, simply because the cast of characters is extensive. I suggest Xeroxing the beginning pages that list the members of the various groupings of people so that you can refer to them easily without flipping back and forth to the front of the book. From Cromwell’s beginnings as a self-taught son of an abusive blacksmith, we follow him briefly through his maturation as a mercenary and wool trader abroad in the Low Countries, where his brilliant mind picked up numerous languages and tricks of the trade. In returning to England, he established a law practice, already several steps up from his humble origins. With uncanny instincts, he attaches himself to Cardinal Wolsey, who helps him on his way up the ladder before Wolsey falls off it himself.
 
The central problem that Cromwell must solve with Wolsey is the following: how to get Henry VII divorced from Katherine of Aragon and married to Anne Boleyn legally and with the approval of Pope Clement. As history scholars know, this helped create the schism that produced the Anglican Church, although that is not touched on here. From Wolf Hall, Wolsey and Cromwell work to get foreign dignitaries on their side who can pressure Pope Clement for a divorce. When this does not work, Wolsey’s downfall is assured. It is only Cromwell’s clever and bold interactions with the king that save him a similar trip to the prison that is the Tower of London. With maneuvering and skill, he manages to create working, if not warm, relationships, with all the power players: Henry VII, his discarded queen, the calculating Anne Boleyn, her clan of relatives consisting of Howards and Boleyns, and those who take up high positions in the church. In addition, he does so while standing by and arguing for his former church patron.

One of the reasons I enjoyed Wolf Hall is that it delves into the personal life of Thomas Cromwell and shows his driven nature to succeed; his deep sadness at the deaths from a “sweating sickness” of his wife, two children, sisters, and most of his household; generosity towards the unfortunate, and eye for talent in those high- and low-born, whom he welcomes into his business and households. All these characteristics are combined with a tremendous will to power that consumes him after his wife’s death, and causes him to massage words to the King’s advantage and therefore, for his own betterment.

In addition, Mantel does not take you by the hand and describe him; she unreels her portrayal so that all can judge for themselves. Along with his generosity and overall kindness, Cromwell is a power player who can navigate the difficult politics at court and in the church. As England changed shape from a Catholic to Protestant country, Cromwell wrote legislation hand in hand with the King to help this happen. He oversaw huge societal changes in England and helped increase the power of the centralized state. In doing so, he undermined monasteries, seized church holdings, and augmented the King’s riches from within, since Spain and Portugal were bringing in wealth from the New World and the English had not yet become a sea power. He wrote legislation consolidating King Henry the VIII’s power and helping to legitimize his second marriage.

So if you love learning history through perusing well-researched fiction; reading about libidinous, cruel, and entertaining court politics; and hearing the true story of a self-made man climb the ladder any way he can to become a top advisor to the King of England; you will greatly enjoy this book. Cromwell deftly ignored and skipped past class constraints as if they were not there by knowing instinctively what to say, how to say it, and what to do at the right time. A consummate politician, he is a fascinating and flawed character worth knowing through his depiction in Wolf Hall.

< Prev		Next >