Reviews with content warning for Torture - Bring Up the Bodies

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Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel

7 reviews

pkc's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book was just insanely good. I really enjoyed Wolf Hall, but found it especially challenging. It takes a great author to hear those critiques and very subtly tweak their prose so that the critiques are addressed but the tone and timbre remain unaffected. Cromwell is such a brilliantly written baddie, but Mantel never seeks to make him look truly wicked. In fact, he’s so cunning that sometimes, I was inexplicably coming around to his way of thinking before giving myself a shake. Mantel’s command of language brings unconventional beauty to some truly dark moments and I can’t praise this book highly enough.

Content Warnings

serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Wolf Hall introduces us to Thomas Cromwell as a teenager who is being abused by his father. More than 25 years later he is a respected lawyer and right-hand man to Cardinal Wolsey, instrumental in arranging the annulment of Henry VIII’s first marriage so that he might marry Anne Boleyn. In Bring Up the Bodies the King has tired of Anne and, still in need of a male heir, desires to marry Jane Seymour. Again Thomas Cromwell, now Master Secretary, is a instrumental, first trying to broker a divorce and when that fails turning up evidence of adultery, enough for Anne to be tried for treason.

These books are works of historical fiction at their finest. The time period is fascinating and Mantel vividly brought it all to life. Not only was her characterisation excellent and her storytelling superb, but her attention to detail was unsurpassed, doubtless a reflection of her copious research. As a reader you are totally transported to the sixteenth century and all the behind the scenes machinations at the court. I thought the portrayal of Cromwell was brilliant. Without necessarily agreeing with Cromwell’s actions I absolutely understood his reasons for making them. He was complex, a pragmatist, flawed and very human, doing what needed to be done for King and country, which conveniently aided his own position. I especially loved all the behind the scenes intrigue and machinations. Mantel’s imaginings of the realities of trying to meet the needs and wants of a sometimes capricious King desperately in need of a male heir felt totally believable, and had me considering what recent behind the scenes goings-on at the palace might have looked like.

History may be seen as dry and boring, but historical fiction - in Mantel’s hands at least- is anything but. It’s totally fascinating and absorbing, full of bawdiness, duplicitousness, and self-serving behaviour. Exceptional reading.

Content Warnings