Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary MantelMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Published by Macmillan
Gifted by daughter
This book was high on my 'to-read' list as I loved Wolf Hall. It is much darker than Wolf Hall, but more engrossing.
While Wolf Hall was about the ascent of Anne Boleyn and how Thomas Cromwell works to put her on throne beside Henry VIII, Bring up the Bodies charts the descent of Anne Boleyn till the time she is beheaded and the king shows unpleasant haste in marrying Jane Seymour.
Though we know the sequence of events already, its how Hilary Mantel presents it and fictionalizes it that keeps you turning the pages.
The center of the story seems to be Henry and his wives, but it is really about Thomas Cromwell. Through Thomas Cromwell we get an intimate, up-close and personal picture of what the life was like in the English court during those times. We also get to know what the life was like for the common people.
If Thomas Cromwell was even half the man Hilary portrays, he was truly someone Henry should have treasured, instead of someone he summarily beheaded.
I cannot wait to read the third part of this trilogy.
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