Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel – A book review

650 pages later, as a I read the last line which ushers one towards a sequel, as if the 650 pages weren’t enough, I realise that the word ‘he’ has a new countenance, a new personality, is the replacement of a new name and surprisingly not the one who is nailed to the cross. ‘he’ is everywhere, his ubiquitous influence can hardly be ignored, he was the cardinal’s man, he is the king’s man, he is loathed, he is worshipped, he takes care of things, but he cannot be taken care of or so it seems, one better listen to him for the king does, he writes laws, he changes them on command, he makes wrongs look right and rights wrong, he’s a wise man but not a saint, he’s a saint but not god, yet he’s a god to the ones that belong to him; he was merely a lawyer, and now he’s (willingly or unwillingly) the most respected man in the king’s court; he is Thomas Cromwell, and he’s indispensable. It's almost as if he chooses not to be king. He’s the Dark Knight – It’s not who he is underneath; it’s what he does that defines him’.

How eccentric can men in power be, how obdurate can the comfort and weight of their thrones make them, and at that a throne gifted and not won, by just being born. In Henry VII’s court, it’s not who should listen to God but who should God listen to and abide by – the pope or the king? For God’s words are not to be and remain His, they’ll be altered to suit one or many. In the kingdom of the young despot, laws are made or abolished based not on what is right but on what the king thinks is right – and the two run parallel, never destined to converge. Whether you live or are allowed not to depends entirely on which ‘right’ you are with. So, marrying the dead elder brother’s wife isn’t wrong, consummating the marriage to produce a daughter isn’t wrong, however, when even after eighteen years, a male heir cannot be resulted, annulling the marriage declaring that nothing ever happened and all of it was wrong in the first place is nothing but fair. Huh! – you say? Is it logic you try to find like I did, like the many others would have? But have we forgotten that logic in the hands of Power is just clay; it’s moulded and remoulded as needed. So, the king desires a law to which the Pope disagrees, to show that his marriage never existed, so that he can marry the manipulative sorceress Anne Boleyn, who’s been twisting him around her little finger, whose father has been using her to gain position in the court, whose sister he’s been sleeping with – for a king has wants. He doesn’t care that the new law will turn his daughter into a bastard and his queen into a mistress; anything for a heir, anything for the legacy to continue. Selfish, stupid, both?

It isn’t surprising then that these are the kind of people who attacked and reigned most of the world at a time – ruthlessness has its rewards. And what do the citizens think about such a king? How does it matter? Not in the entire book or the reign of the king, does one seriously come across a concern for the citizens – the subjects. What he decides for himself is for their benefit, is the right thing, isn’t it? What the people and his courtiers think about the king, the now rejected queen or the about to be queen is immaterial, what matters is those who agree with him and those who have the ability to make others agree. The king has Thomas Cromwell, and Cromwell has everyone.

And God has been given a role too. What’s heresy, what’s sacrilege and what’s not has been decided. He is not to be accessible to everyone; only the chosen few are to have access to him, to be able to read his books, to be able to interpret his language. And so, when his book, is tried to be made available in the common man’s language, the perpetrators are tortured to death. And what creative ideas are thought of for the public executions, for setting an example. Throughout history, man has always made God so dangerous – manipulating and killing freely in his name.

Veritably 650 pages of this absurd historical fiction weren’t enough. All the characters in the book are real even though Mantel has presented her version of Thomas Cromwell and how he might have been and would have done. Her witty style of writing reminded me of Oscar Wilde. Mantel seems to have a soft corner for Cromwell, seems to adore and respect him. She thinks he manipulates but for the greater good, for people to understand that they need to survive and holding on to their values won’t allow them to survive; they need to relent to break their values or their bones would be broken. She somehow accepts shamelessly that he’s spineless, without morals when it comes to that but that is what has worked for him, got him recognition and has gained a safety cushion for him and his family. Mantel’s sarcasm is evident and entertaining, her presentation of facts and history is lucid yet cunning, her characters have a story to tell. I thoroughly enjoyed her writing and am looking forward to reading the sequel.

My rating – 5/5

Picture copyrights:

Book cover - https://www.amazon.in/Wolf-Hall-Shortlisted-Golden-Booker/dp/0007230206

Hilary Mantel - https://www.npr.org/2022/09/23/1124682328/hilary-mantel-author-wolf-hall-dies