![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Irony relieves tension, or casts facts in a ghastly new light. ![]() “The Mirror & the Light” is 757 pages long – 200 pages longer than “Wolf Hall,” a full 350 pages longer than “Bring Up the Bodies.” Yet, it reads briskly. Allusions suggest the future: to Shakespeare, Hobbes, even the obsequies for Princess Diana. The story often looks back, as Cromwell recalls his mentor Cardinal Wolsey and his own early years in Italy. The book runs chronologically, but the narrative swings back and forth, governed by psychological time. Son Gregory, for the young Protestant faith. Mantel writes with verve, and packs irony and suspense into a story with which most readers are at least generally familiar.Īs King Henry’s right-hand man, Cromwell must handle the ceaseless daily business of government while trying to play a many-sided long game – for his king, for himself, for his Once again, the skills of a very able novelist have been employed in the service of history. It covers the period from to July 28, 1540, opening with Anne Boleyn’s execution and ending on the morning when Thomas Cromwell goes to the headsman’s block himself. “The Mirror & the Light,” by Hilary Mantel, concludes a brilliant trilogy of historical novels that revolve around Henry VIII’s most cunning and loyal minister. ![]()
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