Bring up the Bodies is a sequel to Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel's celebrated portrait of English political machinations under the reign of King Henry VIII. It is told once again from the point of view of her extremely engaging narrator, Mantel's imagined version of the real historical character, Thomas Cromwell.
The son of a brutal ruffian called Walter Cromwell, Thomas has run from home, worked his way across Europe to Italy, and learned languages, art, culture, trade and diplomacy. Under King Henry, he has risen to become one of the most powerful men of the age.
As with the first book of what she now says will be a trilogy, Hilary Mantel with apparent ease brings to life the events, characters and settings of Tudor England five hundred years ago. Even the reader who knows the history is enthralled by the way the historically accurate tale is developed. The Thomas Cromwell seen here is vastly different and altogether more fascinating than James Frain's portrayal of the same man, seen in the recent television series, The Tudors.
There is a great difference, of course, between the two media, arising to a large degree to the novelist's freedom to provide a steady supply of the character's internal thought processes and memories. Movie directors and film stars are of course limited to what can be shown visually and expressed in spoken lines.
The audio book, read by Simon Vance, is suspenseful and absorbing. The book was published by HarperCollins in 2012 and won the Man Booker, making its author the only woman to win this prize twice, and one of very few to win it for a book and its sequel. Wolf Hall won in 2009.
Historical books and I don't get along either. I find myself skimming over too much of the details.
ReplyDeleteI applaud you for trying them. :)