WOLF HALL (2)

Hilary Mantel's book Wolf Hall was a brilliant book that won a lot of prizes, including the Man Booker award. I have just finished the sequel, Bring Up The Bodies, which won this year's Man Booker Prize. While the first book covered the six years from 1529 to 1535, the second deals with the critical year of 1536, the fall and death of Anne Boleyn and the stripping of the monasteries. Sitting in the narrator's chair again is Master Secretary Thomas Cromwell, now the King's undisputed right-hand man, feared by the court because of his power and influence, yet despised by that same court because of his low birth. And not only narrating; Henry wants to be rid of Anne, it is Cromwell's job to find the means.

I have heard some people say that the sequel is not as good as the first book. I disagree. I loved it just as much as the first, and am already looking forward to the final instalment, Cromwell's own rise to become Earl of Essex, and then his spectacular fall and execution in 1540. If you haven't got into the books, do so, they are terrific.

Walter Blotscher