In Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel's arch, elegant, richly detailed biographical novel centered on Cromwell…characters are scorchingly well rendered. And their sharp-clawed machinations are presented with nonstop verve in a book that can compress a wealth of incisiveness into a very few well-chosen words." - The New York Times - Janet Maslin.
"Unfortunately, Mantel also includes a distracting abundance of dizzying detail and Henry's all too voluminous political defeats and triumphs, which overshadows the more winning story of Cromwell" - Publishers Weekly (YES!!)
"It should appeal to many readers, not just history buffs. And Mantel achieves this feat without violating the historical record! There will be few novels this year as good as this one." - Library Journal ( NOT SO SURE ABOUT THAT)
"The characters, including Cromwell, remain unknowable, their emotions closely guarded; this works well for court intrigues, less so for fiction. Masterfully written and researched but likely to appeal mainly to devotees of all things Tudor." - Kirkus Reviews ( RIGHT ON)
"This is a burstingly large book, so densely peopled that the cast-list alone takes up five pages.( GOOD THING IT WAS THERE) It rattles back and forth across the Channel and reaches, sometimes confusingly, back through time. Much of Cromwell's past is told in flashbacks - somnolent, slippery sequences that add to the novel's dreamlike sense. For all her meticulous historical reconstruction, Mantel's world remains a strange place, permeated by the many dead. None the less, it is both linguistically and sensually vital, stacked with images and phrases that linger in the mind." - The Guardian (UK), Olivia Laing
"Enfolding cogent insights into the human soul within a lucid analysis of the social, economic and personal interactions that drive political developments, Mantel has built on her previous impressive achievements to write her best novel yet." - The Washington Post, Wendy Smith.
"Unfortunately, Mantel also includes a distracting abundance of dizzying detail and Henry's all too voluminous political defeats and triumphs, which overshadows the more winning story of Cromwell" - Publishers Weekly (YES!!)
"It should appeal to many readers, not just history buffs. And Mantel achieves this feat without violating the historical record! There will be few novels this year as good as this one." - Library Journal ( NOT SO SURE ABOUT THAT)
"The characters, including Cromwell, remain unknowable, their emotions closely guarded; this works well for court intrigues, less so for fiction. Masterfully written and researched but likely to appeal mainly to devotees of all things Tudor." - Kirkus Reviews ( RIGHT ON)
"This is a burstingly large book, so densely peopled that the cast-list alone takes up five pages.( GOOD THING IT WAS THERE) It rattles back and forth across the Channel and reaches, sometimes confusingly, back through time. Much of Cromwell's past is told in flashbacks - somnolent, slippery sequences that add to the novel's dreamlike sense. For all her meticulous historical reconstruction, Mantel's world remains a strange place, permeated by the many dead. None the less, it is both linguistically and sensually vital, stacked with images and phrases that linger in the mind." - The Guardian (UK), Olivia Laing
"Enfolding cogent insights into the human soul within a lucid analysis of the social, economic and personal interactions that drive political developments, Mantel has built on her previous impressive achievements to write her best novel yet." - The Washington Post, Wendy Smith.
More confusing to me was having to follow carefully her use of the pronoun "he". I found I had to backtrack a lot to make certain I knew who was being referred to: too much energy required from the reader. I did like Cromwell: he was a clever man and she portrays him vividly, as she does just about every detail in the book. It was obviously well-researched. But I can only give it two stars, and admit that, as a reader, as much as I like to be informed, I have to be entertained,too.
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