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Description
In inimitable style, Hilary Mantel presents a picture of a half-made society on the cusp of change, where individuals fight or embrace their fate with passion and courage. With a vast array of characters, overflowing with incident, the novel re-creates an era when the personal and political... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis
Summary
In the ruthless arena of King Henry VIII’s court, only one man dares to gamble his life to win the king’s favor and ascend to the heights of political power England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war.... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)
Cast of Characters/Important People
- Cromwell: Add a description of this character.
- Henry VIII
- Katherine of Aragon
- Charles Brandon
- Anne Boleyn
- Mary Boleyn
- Wolsey
- Duke of Norfolk
- Thomas Boleyn
- George Boleyn
- Jane Rochford
- Jane Seymour
- Mary Shelton
- Thomas Wyatt
- Mark Smeaton
- Henry Norris
- Rafe: Cromwell's ward
- Gardiner
- Thomas More
- Margaret More
- Cranmer
- Audley
Memorable Quotes
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“How brightly coloured the king is, like the king in a new pack of cards.”
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“A man's power is in the half-light, in the half-seen movements of his hand and the unguessed-at expression of his face,” he blusters. “It is the absence of facts that frightens people: the gap you open, into which they pour their fears, fantasies, desires.”
Cromwell
First Sentence
Go now get up.
Table of Contents
Cast of Characters
Family Trees
Part One
I. Across the Narrow Sea, 1500
II. Paternity, 1527
III. At Austin Friars, 1527
Part Two
I. Visitation, 1529
II. An Occult History of Britain, 1521-1529
III. Make or Mar. All Hallows 1529
Part Three
I. Three-Card Trick. Winter 1529-Spring 1530
II. Entirely Beloved Cromwell. Spring-December 1530
III. The Dead Complain of Their Burial. Christmastide 1530
Part Four
I. Arrange Your Face, 1531
II. "Alas, What Shall I Do for Love?" Spring 1532
III. Early Mass. November 1532
Part Five
I. Anna Regina, 1533
II. Devil's Spit. Autumn and Winter 1533
III. A Painter's Eye, 1534
Part Six
I. Supremacy, 1534
II. The Map of Christendom, 1534-1535
III. To Wolf Hall, July 1535
Author's Note
Acknowledgments
Authors & Contributors
- Hilary Mantel (Author)
Awards
- Man Booker Prize (2009: Best novel written in English by a citizen of the Commonwealth of Nations, Ireland, or Zimbabwe, Winner)
- Amazon.com's Best Books (November 2009: Editors' Picks, #3)
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