May was a wonderful month of reading.
I delved back into the tragedy that was the reign of Henry VIII with Hilary Mantel’s series told from the point of view of Thomas Cromwell. When a friend recommended the books and loaned me the second one, I was a little hesitant to get started. After all, I’ve read a lot of fiction and nonfiction about the Tudors including Alison Weir’sThe Lady in the Tower: Anne Boleyn. But something about this series–both its prose style and its point of view–pulled me in. The first book dives right into the controversy as Henry tries to put aside Catherine of Aragon for Anne Boleyn. But the real focus is on Cromwell’s complicated relationship with all the parties involved, especially Cardinal Wolsey. Mantel paints a sympathetic portrait of this leader of the Reformation, a man often portrayed as an evil manipulator. He was a man who lost his family but, at least for a short time, gained the support of a monarch.
Here’s the whole list for the month:
Hollow City
Wolf Hall
Tell The Wolves I’m Home
Her Royal Spyness
Still Surprised: A Memoir of a Life in Leadership
English Creek
Bring Up the Bodies
