Wolf Hall
by Hilary Mantel · first published 2009
65% recommend26% neutral10% critical
Why HN recommends it
Historical fiction following Thomas Cromwell through Tudor England, praised for superb prose and a vividly imagined protagonist; makes history stick and suits readers wanting something beyond genre sci-fi and fantasy.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Wolf Hall (2009) is a historical novel by English author Hilary Mantel, published by Fourth Estate, named after the Seymour family's seat of Wolfhall, or Wulfhall, in Wiltshire. Set in the period from 1500 to 1535, Wolf Hall is a sympathetic fictionalised biography documenting the rapid rise to power of Thomas Cromwell in the court of Henry VIII through to the death of Sir Thomas More. The novel won both the Man Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. In 2012, The Observer named it as one of "The 10 best historical novels". The book is the first in a trilogy; the sequel [Br
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…and I really don't see what you'r arguing here reflected in the archives. If anyone reading this is interested, btw, the depiction of a fictional Thomas Cromwell's loss of a child in Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall struck me as incredibly well-observed and accurate. I really loved that part of the book.
on “The Medieval Mindset (2017)” ↗Hilary Mantel - "Wolf Hall" & "Bring Up The Bodies". Excellent fiction. You're worth it.
on “Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List?” ↗…recall correctly. - _To Explain The World_, by Steven Weinberg. History of physics from the ancients to about the time of Newton. Don't skip the technical notes! Actually do the problems! - I reread _Wolf Hall_, by Hilary Mantel, it was as good as I remember. This time through, I also spent some time on the Internet tracing the histories of the major characters before and after the events of the book, and it…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2018?” ↗Everything that I know about Thomas Cromwell, I know from Hilary Mantel's excellent book Wolf Hall, and from the sequels.
on “A Bejeweled Prayer Book Has Been Identified as Belonging to Thomas Cromwell” ↗Hilary Mantel's "Wolf Hall" and "Bring Up the Bodies" - historical fiction. Brilliantly imagined life of Thomas Cromwell - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Cromwell,_1st_Earl_of_Es...
on “Ask HN: What book are you reading?” ↗…but mostly well within the engineer comfort zone (Adams, Gaiman, Tolkien, Asimov, Pratchett, Weir, Sanderson, Rothfuss). If you're feeling like trying something a little different, I'd highly recommend Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. It's historical fiction set in Tudor England, and follows Oliver Cromwell who is a kind of fixer for Henry VIII. Beautiful language, but Mantel also has an ability to enter into the…
on “Ask HN: What are some great fiction reads for someone that reads non-fiction” ↗I’ve “read” 19 books this year (thanks Audible) These were my faves: “Wolf hall” by Hilary Mantell “The Selfish Gene” by Richard Dawkins “Never Split the difference” by Chris Voss “How to talk so kids will listen” by Joanna Faber & Julie King
on “Ask HN: Best books you've read in 2019?” ↗…by J G Farrell - War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy - The Radetsky March, by Joseph Roth - The Leopard, by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa - Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell - Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy - Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel - 1984, by George Orwell - Never Mind, by Edward St Aubyn
on “Ask HN: What is your favorite fiction book?” ↗As an aside, if you're at all interested in this period of history, I highly recommend Hilary Mantel's "Wolf Hall" trilogy about Thomas Cromwell and his time spent administrating for Wolsey and Henry VIII. Cromwell must surely be one of history's greatest "fixers". His legacy is immense, despite not being the top…
on “A Monk’s-Eye View” ↗Anything by Hilary Mantel is extraordinary and worth your reading time. Wolf Hall trilogy threw me into a decade-long search into who really was Thomas Cromwell, A Place of Greater Safety finally made me feel like I understand the French Revolution (I enjoyed this as an audio book…
on “Hilary Mantel Reviews “A Life of One's Own/An Experiment in Leisure” (1986)” ↗I’m reading Wolf Hall. It’s amazing how much more history is ‘sinking in’ when told as historical fiction. Recommended, as is The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, for the same reason. Also that’s just beautifully written.
on “The Last Testaments of Richard II and Henry IV” ↗Hilary Mantel's novels "Wolf Hall" and "Bring Up the Bodies"
on “Ask HN: What is the best book you read on 2017?” ↗Can't read article due to subscribe-wall but just putting in a shout for Wolf Hall and its sequels. I know its kindof redundant to recommend something already so successful and well known, but if you've been steering clear of that stuff because it seems boring, really, its worth checking…
on “Why Are We Living in a Golden Age of Historical Fiction? (2019)” ↗I’m not shaming him, but the idea that Wolf Hall and The Nickel Boys are “trash” is bizarre and, as I said, ridiculously dismissive. They both won multiple national-level awards for best novel of the year. This is also ridiculously dismissive: > It…
on “Why Are We Living in a Golden Age of Historical Fiction? (2019)” ↗I read Wolf Hall when it came out, seeing it had such good reviews. By the end of the first chapter I knew it was going to be a great book. She was such a good writer in a world full of very badly written books. I'm very…
on “Hilary Mantel’s Life with Ghosts” ↗