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A Change of Climate |
Ralph and Anna live an apparently serene and irreproachable life - country house, four children, refuge given to troubled teenagers - until a firmly repressed tragedy from their time in Africa begins to surface and their carefully constructed edifice totters. This extremely intelligent, subtle and beautifully written novel treats big questions, such as the ultimate vulnerability of good intentions and dealing with the unforgivable, with a fluency which makes them utterly readable. Excellent!
(Annabel Bedini - bwl 66 Autumn 2012) |
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Beyond Black |
The first third of this book is very good and promises more delights to come. However I felt it flagged after that, and was far too long for its own good. Very few of the questions posed are particularly answered, and when they are, those answers are not particularly interesting. And the characters basically bored me! Altogether, I found it rather disappointing and not at all the 'ghost story' I had thought it would be.
(Julie Higgins - bwl 35 July 2006) |
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Bring up the Bodies |
Anne Boleyn's final years - hand-in-hand with Thomas Cromwell, we follow the route he devised to engineer her fall from grace. Everything is through his eyes, we see only what he saw or wanted to see, so there is no visible torture, no rack although their shadow is everywhere. A must for lover's of Wolf Hall (bwl 55); I thought it even better, especially as Mantell seems to have dropped her irritating habit of not making clear who is actually speaking.
(Jenny Baker - bwl 65 Summer 2012) |
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Every Day is Mother's Day |
As a Mantel fan, interesting to discover her first (1985 ) novel. Mentally retarded (though is she?) Muriel lives in a crumbling house with her mother, plagued by poltergeists and refusing entry to strangers, including Isabel, the social worker assigned to Muriel's case. As the situation inside the house deteriorates in ghastly ways, Isabel tries to run her own life outside: married lover, difficult father. The conflict between 'abnormal' and 'normal' ends with a mighty crash. Imperfect but promising.
(Annabel Bedini - bwl 70 Autumn 2013) |
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Fludd |
There are some wonderful characters in this satirical book set in a northern parish in the 1950s: the priest who has lost his faith, eccentric nuns, plus supernatural happenings and awakening love amongst strange institutional rituals. The community is shaken by the arrival of a stranger - the very devil himself or an angel and saviour? Absurdly funny yet thought provoking and surprisingly short for Mantel!
(Mary Standing - bwl 73 Summer 2014) |
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The Giant O'Brien |
A disturbing read, dark and compelling, evoking the poverty and squalor of 18th century London. Mantel weaves together the life of the giant O'Brien, story teller and dreamer with that of John Hunter, celebrated surgeon, anatomist and procurer of dead bodies from he cares not where. Not for the squeamish.
(Jenny Baker - bwl 3 May 2000) |
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The Mirror and the Light |
Having psyched myself up for months I have just begun to read Mantell's latest. I tend to inhabit her world once I have gotten into the mood. We shall see. Watch this space . . . .
(Margaret Teh - bwl 97 Summer 2020) |
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The Mirror and the Light |
Many thought this overblown with its diversions into diplomatic tensions, even hinting you need to be a student of European history to understand the complexities instigated or combatted by Thomas Cromwell. But others became engrossed in the drama and avidly followed the fortunes and inevitable bloody conclusions of the protagonists. Having thought that France's revolutionaries and present-day terrorists are the extremes of barbarism, I realise now that 16C England was in the same league. Nevertheless, a very satisfying conclusion to the Trilogy, lockdown or no lockdown.
(Margaret Teh - bwl 98 Autumn 2020) |
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The Wolf Hall Trilogy: Wolf Hall, Bring up the Bodies and The Mirror and the Light |
The Mirror and the Light reaches the end of Mantel's trilogy describing the life of Thomas Cromwell. Wolf Hall covers his service to Wolsey whose decline and death results in Cromwell becoming Henry VIII's faithful right-hand man. In Bring up the Bodies we follow Anne Boylen's rise and Cromwell's part in her downfall. Throughout both books he is strangely absent from the action, moving behind the scenes fulfilling Henry's wishes no matter what they are. Henry is portrayed as a self-indulgent and spoilt despot, using and discarding people on a whim. In The Mirror and the Light Cromwell emerges from the shadows revealing the motives behind his actions: the success of Protestantism, the fall of the old Catholic families and the expansion of King and State. Beautifully written with such detail that you live, sleep and eat with Cromwell as he moves around London and S.E. England negotiating and plotting against his, the King's and the Country's enemies but eventually all to nought. His enemies win because Henry abandons him as he has abandoned Katherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Anne of Cleves and a host of others. I've read many books about the Tudors but none captures like Mantel the darkness and bloodshed while describing the beginnings of national identity in the context of our complex relationship with Europe.
(Helen Allan - bwl 100 Spring 2021) |
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Wolf Hall |
I cannot recommend this novel highly enough! It's tough going at first (Mantel does not identify pronouns throughout, for instance). It's the complex, beautifully researched and executed story of Thomas Cromwell and his relationship with Henry VIII. Contrary to so many accounts of Henry's reign, imagine that Cromwell is the hero of sorts and Sir Thomas More an egotistical fanatic. Mantel's Anne Boleyn is peevish, controlling and fascinating. Absorbing and brilliant.
(Lucy Childs - bwl 55 Winter 2010) |
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