quippe | Entries tagged with hilary mantel

The Blurb On The Back:

By 1535 Cromwell is Chief Minister to Henry, his fortunes having risen with those of Anne Boleyn. But the split from the Catholic Church has left England dangerously isolated, and Anne has failed to give the king an heir. Cromwell watches as Henry falls for plain Jane Seymour. Negotiating the politics of the court, Cromwell must find a solution that will satisfy Henry, safeguard the nation and secure his own career. But neither minister nor king will emerge unscathed from the bloody theatre of Anne’s final days.
An astounding literary accomplishment, BRING UP THE BODIES is the story of this most terrifying moment of history, by one of our greatest living novelists.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Hilary Mantel’s Booker Prize winning sequel to the Booker Prize winning WOLF HALL is an equally thrilling, intelligent and utterly gripping account of Anne Boleyn’s downfall and the impact on Cromwell. Mantel succeeds in taking a familiar story and making it feel both fresh and suspenseful again.

The Blurb On The Back:

In WOLF HALL, one of our very best writers brings the opulent, brutal world of the Tudors to bloody, glittering life. It is the backdrop to the rise and rise of Thomas Cromwell: lowborn boy, charmer, bully, master of deadly intrigue, and, finally, most powerful of Henry VIII’s courtiers.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

The multi-award winning historical novel that depicts the early years of Thomas Cromwell’s life is a brilliant account of period and person, humanising and contextualising him while bringing the period to life. It’s one of the best novels I’ve read all year.

The Blurb On The Back:

Alison Hart, a medium by trade, tours the dormitory towns of London’s orbital road with her flint-hearted sidekick Colette, passing on messages from dead ancestors. But behind her plump, smiling persona is a desperate woman: the next life holds terrors that she must conceal from her clients, and her own waking hours are plagued by the spirits of men from her past. They infiltrate her house, her body and her soul, and the more she tries to be rid of them, the stronger and nastier they become ...

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

A dark novel told at a thoughtful pace, that combines spiritualism with grim reality with such skill that it’s well worth a read.