The story of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII continues to fascinate--as demonstrated by the number of books about her. Natalie at On the Tudor Trail has a list of Anne Boleyn fiction books here. I have 15 Anne Boleyn books of my own (plus a few other Tudor-focused books.)
I finished Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel Saturday night. I didn't get the title. Wolf Hall is the home of the Seymour family, but is barely mentioned in the book. Thanks to wikipedia, I learned the title is an allusion to the saying, Man is wolf to man.
First, the good: it's brilliant to have Thomas Cromwell as the protagonist. I think my first memory of Cromwell was from the movie Anne of the Thousand Days. He was played by John Colicos and was torturing poor Mark Smeaton. Cromwell is usually portrayed as ruthless, if not outright evil. In Wolf Hall, Cromwell is sympathetic. He's hard-working, intelligent and loving. It's a fascinating variation.
But I had problems with Wolf Hall. It was often difficult to figure out who was speaking in conversations. Mantel also had an annoying habit of writing things like: he, Cromwell... Why not just say Cromwell?
It took me a long time to finish the book. I'm not sure if I have the patience to read the sequel.
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