cakt1991 's review for:

The Cardinal by Alison Weir

4.0

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 I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own. 

When I heard that Alison Weir’s next Tudor novel would be about Thomas Wolsey, I had mixed feelings. He’s never been my favorite figures of the era, and I was always mainly interested in the politics of the era in terms of how it intersected with domestic issues (given my gateway to loving the era was courtesy of the Six Wives). But I was surprised by how much I enjoyed The Cardinal, and I love that Weir is really showing the breadth of her knowledge of the era by exploring it from an angle outside of Henry and his wives. 

Giving Wolsey  (referred to in-text as Tom throughout to distinguish from the myriad other Thomases at court) enough dimension to be sympathetic is a tough task, but Weir accomplishes this. While there are myriad times when I find what he’s doing rather awful, his strong motivations of obtaining political power and remaining in Henry’s good graces remain consistent throughout. These motivations are so strong that he literally fights for them to the end, even when he’s charged with treason and is on his deathbed. His hypocrisy and contradictions are particularly stark, especially with overlaps and parallels in Wolsey and Henry’s respective indiscretions where their illegitimate sons were concerned. However, this was one aspect that connected them and showed how, in spite of the occasional challenges in their relationship, Wolsey had built his reputation on loyalty, making the fall from grace all the more devastating. 

And while I knew quite a bit about Wolsey the flawed churchman and statesman (and aspects of this, like his name being put forward as a contender to be pope at one point, were quite fun to read and reflect on given the recent passing of Pope Francis and the start of conclave), I was also intrigued by his private life and how it conflicted with his political ambitions. I didn’t necessarily approve of how he conducted his liaison with Joan, given he couldn’t offer her marriage (and the marriage he later arranged for her was to a man who slut shamed her), but it’s very much in keeping with both his vocation and what was common for the era. And despite the imbalance of power, I liked that she did attempt to assert herself and set boundaries on occasion, like when she was first married, although even then things weren’t over and remained complicated between them. 

Weir’s anti-Anne Boleyn bias is fairly well-known, and has tainted various works where she prominently features. However, while there are aspects of that here, as while Wolsey is never explicitly anti-Anne, her issues with him for breaking up her betrothal to Henry Percy are legendary at this point, and while he almost never explicitly goes one way or the other, trying to remain objective, Anne is widely disliked by the Court, and this bleeds through in the opinions from other characters. 

Given that my reading experience with Weir was incredibly slow-paced, I did worry this would be more of the same. However, I found most of this book very engaging, and fairly fast paced. I enjoyed seeing a lot of familiar events from Wolsey’s perspective and his impact on them (my favorite being his intervention on behalf of Henry’s sister Mary and Charles Brandon after their secret marriage). Ironically, in spite of this being so pivotal to his story and downfall, I found the chapters concerning the Great Matter, especially in 1528-30, to be a slog at times. I did feel a sense of dread knowing what would come, but this was the part where I also felt the least invested, so the last 20-ish% was almost a slog in comparison to the rest of the book. Maybe some of it was purely psychological, because of what I knew was coming, but it felt like that portion dragged way more for me than any other section. 

 This was an unexpected surprise for me, and I’d recommend it to readers who enjoy the Tudors and want a different perspective on the era.