Book Review: Bring Up The Bodies by Hilary Mantel

Rating: 4 Stars

Published: May 8, 2012 by Henry Holt & Company, Inc.

Pages: 412

Genre: Historical Fiction

Buy: Amazon.com

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This is the second book in the ‘Thomas Cromwell’ series, and I have reviewed the first book in the series, ‘Wolf Hall’ on this blog a couple of years ago when I read it. If you have not read my review of that one yet, you can go check it out. I went straight into reading this book immediately after I finished the first book, but I just couldn’t get into the story at the time. In hindsight, I realize that it was because it was really slowly paced and didn’t give me the pump I may have needed from it at the time. However, while I was reading ‘Boleyn traitor’ by Philippa Gregory, my brain immediately connected me back to where I left off reading in this book and I knew I just had to jump right back into it. You can say I was inspired to read it.

This book takes us into the heart of the Tudor court with Henry Tudor on the throne through the eyes of Thomas Cromwell, his “Chief Minister”. From humble beginnings, the son of a blacksmith, Cromwell rises in position, wealth, and fame as he serves under the king who in my opinion one of the most temperamental and difficult kings ever in the history of England. This book views Thomas Cromwell from a perspective that is rarely seen – his own thus humanizing him and giving him a voice to tell his story as both an ordinary man and the second most influential man in Tudor England.

Although this book started slowly, when the story finally kicked in, it went all the way in a flash because I was eating it up. I like the retrospective nature of Cromwell’s narrative and many a time the humor that came with it. The little details about his life that come to life in this story showed a side of Cromwell that people don’t relate to him like his close relationship and affection for his son and his grief for the loss of his wife and family. Also, several situations where he helped people in many ways. The Spanish Ambassador was another interesting character in this story amongst others such as the Duke of Norfolk (who is a prominent player in every story that I have read involving Henry VIII). Hilary Mantel is without doubt an absolutely amazing writer however, after reading this book (which is the third book I have read by her) I would say, she’s probably an author who has grown on me as her writing style is not my typical go-to when it comes to the way I like stories to be told. Nevertheless, this turned out to be a very interesting and engaging read and I am now quickly moving on to the last book in the series, ‘The Mirror and the Light’. I hope it is as good as the first two.

If you love historical fiction, then this book or rather this series is one I would recommend. Note that you may not get into it in the first few chapters but hang in there and you will not be disappointed.

Also available in eBook and audiobook formats on Audible and Everand.

Thanks for stopping by.

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The Author:

Hilary Mantel is the bestselling author of many novels including Wolf Hall, which won the Man Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction. Bring Up the Bodies, Book Two of the Wolf Hall Trilogy, was also awarded the Man Booker Prize and the Costa Book Award. She is also the author of A Change of Climate, A Place of Greater Safety, Eight Months on Ghazzah Street, An Experiment in Love, The Giant, O’Brien, Fludd, Beyond Black, Every Day Is Mother’s Day, and Vacant Possession. She has also written a memoir, Giving Up the Ghost. Mantel was the winner of the Hawthornden Prize, and her reviews and essays have appeared in The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, and the London Review of Books. She lives in England with her husband. 

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