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Synopsis

Tudor England. Henry VIII is on the throne, but has no heir. Cardinal Wolsey is charged with securing his divorce. Into this atmosphere of distrust comes Thomas Cromwell - a man as ruthlessly ambitious in his wider politics as he is for himself. His reforming agenda is carried out in the grip of a self-interested parliament and a king who fluctuates between romantic passions and murderous rages.

Reviews and Press Quotes

C J Sansom

“...it captures the extrovert, confident, violent mood of the age wonderfully.”

Carole Mansur, The Telegraph

“For the season of excess, Hilary Mantel's enthralling Wolf Hall, all 21 discs, is magnificently timed. Dining on swan and syllabub, bedecked with jewels, the Tudors at Henry VIII's court are conspicuous consumers. The novel's viewpoint is that of Thomas Cromwell, the blacksmith’s son who rose to be Henry's fixer. Despite the large cast of wily clerics, scheming dukes and would-be wives, the reader Simon Slater makes us feel within whispering distance.”

Christina Hardyment, The Times

“Two days in bed with a lurgy that left me OK as long as I didn't lift my head from the pillow turned out to be the perfect way to conquer Hilary Mantel's 600-page Wolf Hall. I had bought the book when Mantel won the Booker, but it had sat leering fatly at me for a fortnight. Life was too short, and when I did begin to start reading I found that her quirky way of referring to Thomas Cromwell - who is in effect her narrator - in the third person made for jerky reading. I kept having to check which 'he' was which, and who said what. Listened to, the problem vanishes. The reader, Simon Slater, skillfully adopts contrasting voices, and the narrative has an immediacy close to a dramatisation.

Wolf Hall invades historical territory ably successfully occupied by C J Sansom and Philippa Gregory, but it treats its cast utterly differently. Mantel reinvents Henry VIII's thick-set fighting dog Thomas Cromwell as a sympathetic Renaissance man of the people with a tenderness for children and a sense of humour, and turns Robert Bolt's scholarly and saintly Thomas More into a heartless bigot. Anne Boleyn's sister Mary is put-upon and pathetic, Boleyn is a calculating ice-queen and Jane Seymour a conniving elf.

Wars and chivalry are out of date: the glittering prizes are desirable houses and gardens and gem-studded clothes. Provocative, rewarding listening.”

Diana Athill

“A stunning book.”

Karen Robinson, The Sunday Times

“Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall, this year's Man Booker winner, is a big book in both length and ambition, and Simon Slater takes 24 and a half hours to read it. Mantel's powerfully imagined Tudor world is a breathtaking feat. She may confound the story with too many minor characters, but her hero, Thomas Cromwell (she's obviously more than a bit in love with him), is compelling, as is his rise to power under Henry VIII.”

Rachel Redford, The Observer

“Thomas Cromwell, the focus of this jumbo Booker prize-winning historical novel, is just as ruthless and ambitious as Henry VIII, while all the other players are complex and real. The narration brings out the subtleties and humour of Mantel's sparkling language. A magnificent listen.”

Sue Arnold, The Guardian

“If it had been twice as long, this (for once) worthy Booker prizewinner would still have been too short. I had to ration myself to one CD a day. It follows the fortunes of Thomas Cromwell, Cardinal Wolsey's clever lawyer who, when his master fell from royal favour, became Henry VIII's chief minister. What I'd like to ask Mantel is how far Simon Slater's characterisation of Cromwell - usually portrayed as a callous, ambitious, scheming rat - influenced my feeling for him. Slater's Cromwell isn't just sympathetic, he is positively charismatic.

Cromwell, the blacksmith's son who runs away from home at 16 to escape his drunken, violent father, enlists in the French army, works as a wool trader in Holland and for the Frescobaldi bankers in Florence, speaks half a dozen languages including Latin and can recite the New Testament by heart, is a charmer through and through. He is my idea of Renaissance man. Even the all-powerful Duke of Norfolk has to admit that Cromwell can do anything - 'draft a contract, train a falcon, draw a map, stop a street fight, furnish a house and fix a jury'.

I started out admiring him and ended up adoring him, which doesn't bode well for the inevitable unhappy ending of the sequel. Never mind, just get on with it please, Ms M.”

The Observer

“Majestically conjures up an England in the throes of epic change... a Great British Novel.”

Customer Reviews

Steve, London

5 out of 5

“Just finished this, and I admit that sometimes I just parked up the car to keep listening after my journey's end. The narrator deserves a medal for keeping all the voices distinct and recognisable but never over-egged. The best Xmas present I received this year by a mile.”

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Content Advisory

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• Violence: Mild