In the ruthless arena of King Henry VIII's court, only one man dares to gamble his life to win the king's favor and ascend to the heights of political power

England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years, and marry Anne Boleyn. The pope and most of Europe opposes him. The quest for the king's freedom destroys his adviser, the brilliant Cardinal Wolsey, and leaves a power vacuum.

Into this impasse steps Thomas Cromwell. Cromwell is a wholly original man, a charmer and a bully, both idealist and opportunist, astute in reading people and a demon of energy: he is also a consummate politician, hardened by his personal losses, implacable in his ambition. But Henry is volatile: one day tender, one day murderous. Cromwell helps him break the opposition, but what will be the price of his triumph?

In inimitable style, Hilary Mantel presents a picture of a half-made society on the cusp of change, where individuals fight or embrace their fate with passion and courage. With a vast array of characters, overflowing with incident, the novel re-creates an era when the personal and political are separated by a hairbreadth, where success brings unlimited power but a single failure means death.

Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
Published: 10/13/2009
ISBN: 9780805080681
Pages: 532
Weight: 1.65lbs
Size: 9.40h x 6.60w x 1.90d
Award: Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction - Nominee
Award: Man Booker Prize - Winner
Award: National Book Critics Circle Award - Winner
Award: Costa Book Awards - Nominee
Award: Indies Choice Book Awards - Honor Book

Review Citations: Library Journal Prepub Alert 05/01/2009 pg. 59
London Review of Books 04/30/2009 pg. 3
Publishers Weekly 08/17/2009 pg. 40
Kirkus Reviews 09/01/2009
Booklist 09/15/2009 pg. 32
Library Journal 09/15/2009 pg. 51
Entertainment Weekly 10/23/2009 pg. 63
New York Review of Books 11/05/2009 pg. 22
People Weekly 10/26/2009 pg. 51
Commonweal 10/23/2009 pg. 33
New York Times Book Review 11/01/2009 pg. 10
New York Times Book Review 11/08/2009 pg. 34
Time 11/30/2009 pg. 83
NY Times Notable Bks of Year 12/06/2009 pg. 21
LJ Best Books of Year 12/15/2009 pg. 53
New Yorker (The) 12/14/2009 pg. 85
Time 12/21/2009 pg. 89
People Weekly 12/28/2009 pg. 68
Books & Culture 05/01/2010 pg. 32
People 01/09/2012 pg. 47
New Yorker (The) 05/07/2012 pg. 71
New Yorker (The) 10/15/2012 pg. 46
BookPage 10/01/2009

Accelerated Reader Quiz #/Name: 136471 / Wolf Hall
Reading Level: 5.6 / Interest Level: Upper Grade / Point Value: 34