The recent adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall (Digital: DB 70074, Large print: LB 07612) for the screen and stage has brought renewed interested in this 2009 Man Booker Prize winning novel. Wolf Hall relates the story of Henry VIII’s marriage to Anne Boleyn and the religious and political repercussions that ensued. The author adds a unique twist by telling this tale through the viewpoint of Henry’s advisor, Thomas Cromwell. Richly detailed, slow-paced, and character driven, Wolf Hall truly immerses the reader in the world of the sixteenth century English court.

NLS Annotation: Thomas Cromwell, a closet Protestant and blacksmith’s son who becomes advisor to Henry VIII of England, realizes that he can accumulate power and wealth by assisting the king in obtaining an annulment and simultaneously help commoners and his country by destroying the corrupt Catholic clergy. Booker Prize. Bestseller.  2009.

Wolf Hall is the first book in Hilary Mantel’s Thomas Cromwell trilogy. It is followed by Bring Up the Bodies (DB 74880) and will conclude with The Mirror and the Light, which is currently scheduled to be published later this year.

For an another fictional view of Anne Boleyn’s rise and fall, through the eyes of her sister Mary, try The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory (DB 58873). To read Anne’s story from her own perspective, try Lady in the Tower,  the fourth book in the Queens of England series by Jean Plaidy (Digital cartridge: DX 32305; BARD: DB 32305).