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Wolf Hall cover art

Wolf Hall

By: Hilary Mantel
Narrated by: Simon Slater
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Summary

Winner of the Man Booker Prize.

Shortlisted for the Golden Man Booker Prize.

England, the 1520s. Henry VIII is on the throne, but has no heir. Cardinal Wolsey is his chief advisor, charged with securing the divorce the pope refuses to grant. Into this atmosphere of distrust and need, comes Thomas Cromwell, first as Wolsey's clerk, and later his successor. 

Cromwell is a wholly original man: the son of a brutal blacksmith, a political genius, a briber, a charmer, a bully, a man with a delicate and deadly expertise in manipulating people and events. Ruthless in pursuit of his own interests, he is as ambitious in his wider politics as he is for himself. His reforming agenda is carried out in the grip of a self-interested parliament and a king who fluctuates between romantic passions and murderous rages.

From one of our finest living writers, Wolf Hall is that very rare thing: a truly great English novel, one that explores the intersection of individual psychology and wider politics. With a vast array of characters, and richly overflowing with incident, it peels back history to show us Tudor England as a half-made society, moulding itself with great passion, suffering and courage.

©2009 Hilary Mantell (P)2009 WF Howes Ltd

Critic reviews

"If the dance between king and mistress is expertly choreographed, it is Mantel's presentation of the common realm - the seething streets of Putney and Wimbledon, populated by drapers and boatmen - that gives this novel the force of revelation." ( The Guardian)

"...as soon as I opened the book I was gripped. I read it almost non-stop. When I did have to put it down, I was full of regret the story was over, a regret I still feel. This is a wonderful and intelligently imagined retelling of a familiar tale from an unfamiliar angle - one that makes the drama unfolding nearly five centuries ago look new again, and shocking again, too. " ( The Times)

"The reader, Simon Slater, skilfully adopts contrasting voices and the narrative has an immediacy close to a dramatisation... Provocative, rewarding listening." (The Times)

What listeners say about Wolf Hall

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Past imperfect.

This is a long, rich complex historical novel and for many people this unabridged audio version will be an excellent way to get to know such a lengthy work. But some caution may be necessary . Simon Slater reads the basic narrative well and gives a gripping portrayal of Thomas Cromwell, the main focus of interest in this account of the reign of Henry VIII to 1535. But although he is clearly aware of the necessity of some differentiation for other important characters, his solutions are not always convincing and fail to do justice to the subtlety and detail of Hilary Mantel's writing :Cardinal Wolsey sounds dimwitted, Thomas More - far from a saintly character in this novel- sounds sly and slimy and the old nobility blustering idiots. In each case there is an element of truth in the portrayal but they come across too often as cardboard cut-outs.
Most readers will also find that they will need to have or to acquire a good knowledge of Early Tudor history to appreciate fully what Hilary Mantel is attempting in this book. There is much fascinating detail and insight to enjoy but in the end I was left feeling the book could profitably have been more tautly focussed and better structured ? it seems to peter out rather than reach a proper closure -is a sequel intended?
Certainly then on the whole a worthwhile audiobook but be prepared for a text that is occasionally self indulgent ? repetitious and over detailed ? and a reading that is enjoyable but unconvincing and inadequate in places.

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80 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • M
  • 08-11-12

A worthy challenge.

I wasn’t finding this a particularly easy book to read (or at least to listen to) until I was about halfway through. Then something clicked, and I realised what it was about the writing that felt strange: there’s no plot - or should I say that the plot is so old and well known that the author doesn’t bother with it. The characters are real people from our past and their life stories are history: set in stone, in a thousand textbooks, their fates are already decided, even if it's only us - the readers - that know it. And Hilary Mantel presumes we do, and so, freed from twisting and shaping a plot, she concentrates on their language: their thoughts and inner voices; the words they might have spoken; even their body language is used to take us deep into their lives and motivations, and Hilary Mantel certainly can write. Whether it’s Thomas More intellectualising his inhumanity or a coarse fisherman going on about some prostitutes her writing is fluid and believable.

Thomas Cromwell was unknown to me before I started Wolf Hall but now I’ve got the feeling that he’s going to stay with me as one of the great (non?) fictional historical characters. (I don’t know, or really care, if this is a true portrait of Thomas Cromwell, but the author made a great decision by putting him at the heart of this pivotal moment in history.)

He’s a wonderfully complex man: his fidelity to his friends, family, masters and ideals contrasts with the ruthlessness of his politics; his drive to free England of the shackles of Rome is bizarrely made possible by the whims of his King, and he accepts this and uses it; and most of all, his comfortableness with the commoners combines beautifully with his ability to motivate and manipulate his betters.

The narrator - Simon Slater - gives every character their own distinctive voice and he adds depth, menace or lightness as needed. So, overall, not an easy read but a beautiful and worthy challenge.

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62 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Lose yourself in 16th century England

Well, we all know the story of Henry VIII and his wives, so this book had to deliver something different to keep my attention for 24 hours of listening - and for me, it did. The story is told through the eyes of Thomas Cromwell, as he progresses from the gutter in Putney to hold high office in the King's court. There is a wealth of historical detail and a constant undercurrent of political intrigue. Occasionally, Hilary Mantel slips into some loose writing and a bit of self indulgence as she wanders from the story but for me, the star of the show is the narrator, Simon Slater. He has the ability to wrap the story around the listener, breathing life into the characters with a wide range of colour and inflexion to go with the different voices and accents he employs. Far from the saintly man portrayed in 'A Man For All Seasons', Thomas More is characterised as an arrogant cynic, and Slater's voice drips with comtempt and disdain as he speaks his words. I'm not usually one for 'literary' works, crime and thrillers being my regular listening, but I have to say this was such a good story, so well told, it had me spellbound all the way through. I usually listen while walking my dogs and their walks got longer as I just wanted to hear a little bit more... Other reviews are mixed, so I guess the only way to really find out if you'll like it is to try it. By the way, Wolf Hall is the home of Jane Seymour, setting up a sequel, I hope!

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48 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Best audio book I've bought so far.

This book was an extremely worthy winner of the Man Booker prize and Simon Slater's reading of it only served to enhance the story. He represented each of the characters in a very individual way and each had their own style of speech and intonation meaning that I really got a feel for the character behind the words. I thoroughly enjoyed the colourful and inventive curses uttered by various players and the droll way in which Simon represented Cardinal Wolsely. I would heartily recommend this title.

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41 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

History brought to life

It's a very long listen but enjoyed every hour of it. Excellently read by Simon Slater who skilfully gives the many different characters distinctive voices that helps with identification. The book covers a relatively short, but tumultuous period of Henry VIIIth reign during which he agonizes over getting a divorce from Katherine of Aragon and marries Anne Bolyne. It's a familiar period of history, but, for me, what was most interesting was the different slant on the story in that it is told from the point of view of Thomas Cromwell: usually a demonized figure in history, I found him a much more complex and more humane character than I had previously believed. Conversely, my image of Sir Thomas More, based on the film and play "A Man for all Seasons", has been shifted to think him less than saintly in his relentless pursuit of those he deemed to be heretics and over-weaningly self-righteous.
The book brought this period of history to life for me in the characterization of the main players and the atmosphere and religious tensions of Tudor England. It's also a salutary reminder of how cruel and barbaric this country was in the treatment of prisoners in the not too distant past.

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36 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Mannered style. Dreary reading. Left me cold.

Far from giving a sense of immediacy, Hlary Mantel's mannered use of the present tense turns this story into what seems little more than a set of stage directions for a puppet show. Any chance of identifying with the main character, Thomas Cromwell, is further removed by his being referred to in the third person. "He looks at this, that or the other, and remembers this or that." The reading does not help, as there is usually so little difference between the voices that we are not always sure about who is doing the remembering. The reader's downward inflection at the end of every unit of meaning gives an added depressive feel. I just could not get lost in this story. True, we all know the historical ending, but other writers tell a better story. True, some famous characters do give us a surprise by being shown as grubbier around the morals than we are used to seeing them. There are also some beautifully evocative passages of description here, laden with the symbolism so popular at that time. All the same, I laboured to finish this.

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32 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful book and superb reading

I have read prize winning books before and have been sadly disappointed so, although I was strongly interested in this book, I decided to get it as an audiobook first, just in case. I loved it so much I have now bought the book too.

I did find I was confused at first about who all the people were, as without the hard copy of the book you don't get the cast of characters but that didn't spoil my enjoyment as I just let it wash over me and all became clear.

This book gives another perspective on the stories many of us have heard and Cromwell is usually just portrayed as the two dimensional villain of the piece, almost the only real villain.

This on the other hand sets him within a world where there was so much turmoil and self-seeking and gives a wonderfully realised portrait of the man as he might have been, for all we know. The book doesn't avoid the actions Cromwell is known for but they are there if you look, placed into the context of a time of great upheaval and cruelty and a King who hardly knew from one year to the next what he wanted.

I think the reading is superb and like another reviewer I have looked for other books read by Simon Slater, unfortunately none so far but I do hope he will read more.

The characterisation was just right for characters such as Cardinal Wolsey (who apparently had an impish sense of humour) and Thomas More, rather a cruel man as distinct from his sainted image in other portrayals.

But the real triumph is the voice of Cromwell himself, the loving family man, gentle and considerate to others whom he respects (or pities like Catherine of Aragon or even, eventually, Thomas More), funny at times, sometimes silkily seductive, always in control in public even when he is grieving. It's also a very detailed performance, the voice of Cromwell changes from the lost but self-contained boy to bruiser to diplomat and even charmer over the course of the reading.

One word, superb.

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30 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Voice characterisations are too similar

I managed to listen to 2 hours and 7 minutes before I had had enough.

The style of writing is quirky, so I imagine that it would be a challenge to narrate this really well. In fact the narrator does quite well with all the background stuff, its just the character voices that are not working at all. Twice in 2 hours I've not realised that a conversation between person A and B has turned into chat between A and C. This is entitely due to the voice characterisations being so similar to one another.

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25 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Disappointing narration

This is one Audible purchase that I think I would have preferred to read than listen to. The characters are fascinating, but my enjoyment of them and of the story was spoiled by the unnecessarily malevolent or just plain unpleasant tone of many of the 'voices' employed by the narrator. Thomas More sounded particularly evil, and I found it difficult to warm to Cromwell himself because of his harsh voice. A shame, as my previous experiences of your readers has been very positive.

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23 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

A worthy winner brilliantly read

There is a reason that some books win prizes. Wolf Hall is a worthy winner of this year's Man Booker Prize. It takes us through the life of Thomas Cromwell in a lively and insightful way. Hilary Mantel helps us to understand the time and tensions of Henry's court and the life of an individual who makes good.
The book is a worthy winner of it's accolades.
Now to the reader. After listening to hundreds of audio books over the last 20 years I find that the quality of the reading is crucial in my enjoyment of any book. The reader can make an average story or make it impossible to listen to a great book.
The most important things are the differentiation of character's voices, the consistency of those voices and the rhythm and pace of the reading.
In all these areas Simon Slater succeeds with a gold star.
His choice of voices are all effective from the point of view of the main character. So, for example, Thomas More is oily as Cromwell would have perceived him. The pace is varied and builds the story well, creating tension and allowing calming periods to relax back into the story.
When I hear a reader I enjoy I look for other books they have read and was amazed to find that this is the only book, read by Simon Slater, which Audible have available.
If this is really his first reading then it is magnificent. If he pursues reading audio books then maybe we have a new Martin Jarvis in the making.

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21 people found this helpful