Wolf Hall
First published 2009 · English · 559 pages
- Novels
- Historical fiction
- Children's
A historical novel set in the court of Henry VIII in the 1520s and 1530s. It follows Thomas Cromwell, the blacksmith's son who rises through sharp intelligence, languages and loyalty to become one of the king's closest advisers. Henry is anxious for a male heir and wants to be free of his marriage to Katherine of Aragon, while Anne Boleyn's influence grows. Told in a close present tense, the book shows court politics, religion and ambition through Cromwell's watchful eyes. It reshaped a familiar period by turning a figure often cast as a villain into a complex, human centre, and it won the Booker Prize.
Quotes
He will remember his first sight of the open sea: a gray wrinkled vastness, like the residue of a dream.
So now, tell me how was Yorkshire.’”“Filthy.” He sits down. ‘Weather. People. Manners. Morals.
For what’s the point of breeding children, if each generation does not improve on what went before?
The multitude,” Cavendish says, “is always desirous of a change. They never see a great man set up but they must pull him down—for the novelty of the thing.