Wolf Hall – Hilary Mantell

Finally! After several stuttering attempts to get into this book I have finished it.  Did I enjoy it? Well, yes actually, I did. Would I read it again?  Not sure.  Do I want to read the sequel? Quite possibly.

So why was it such a challenge?  It certainly met one of my criteria for a good read:  an historical period that fascinates me.  I think the reason it took so long to get into it was that almost like a journal, from the viewpoint of Thomas Cromwell.  And yet, it was not written in the first person, nor was it written in the past tense.  It felt a bit like a journal because it was so caught up in the minutiae of everyday life.  In the end, that was what made it so fascinating;  it was like opening a window into a Tudor world.

It certainly wasn’t what I would call an easy read, which may be further grounds for the length of time it took me to complete.  I have to confess to being a rather a lazy reader; I have tendency to skim text rather than read every word.  In this book every word mattered.  There were places you could feel how the author had carefully chosen particular phrases or specific words to create exactly the right mood or picture.  The plot did not move on at a great pace, but I don’t think that was the intention.  As a reader you were being lead through the situations and emotions of the main characters.  A very clever book, but not necessarily one I would recommend to everyone.