Picture Perfect month presents us with the opportunity to showcase the cover of one of the best books published in many of our lifetimes. And it’s #tbt, which means that we can root around in the archives all the way back to…2009.
Wolf Hall was the first of Hilary Mantel’s mould-breaking historical novels about Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s great minister. Mantel made Man Booker prize history by becoming the first woman and the first British writer to win the literary award twice, winning for both Wolf Hall and its sequel, Bring Up The Bodies (2012).
Receiving the second price, Mantel joked: ‘You wait 20 years for a Booker prize and then two come along at once’.
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‘Lock Cromwell in a deep dungeon in the morning,’ says Thomas More, ‘and when you come back that night he’ll be sitting on a plush cushion eating larks’ tongues, and all the gaolers will owe him money.’
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. Hilary Mantel’s prize-winning Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies explore the man and motivations behind this most masterful of political figures.
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How did you first come across Cromwell, and when did you decide to write about him?
I first came across him when I was a child learning history in a Catholic school. I grew up with the sainted Thomas More looking down from stained-glass windows. As I am a contrarian, it made me ask whether there was more to Cromwell’s story than just his opposition to More, and I carried that question with me. When I began writing, I registered him in my mind as a potential subject. This would have been in the 1970s, before I’d finished my first novel. There seemed to be a lot of blanks in his story, and it wasn’t easy to find out anything about him, but it’s in those gaps that the novelist goes to work. Read more…
*I like the works of double Man Booker Prize winner Dame Hilary Mantel
*I am a fan of Wolf Hall, her work of historical fiction
*I also enjoyed the sequel, Bring Up the Bodies
*I have read neither of the above, but would like to
*I am looking forward to The Mirror and the Light, the third in the series
*I partake in television watching Read more…
This autumn, we’re celebrating 30 years of 4th Estate, and with it, we’ve hand-picked 30 of our memorable, moving and award-winning titles. While remember, remembering the 5th of November, we’ll be looking beyond (or behind?) Bonfire Night, and reaching far back into our memories, touching on our specially selected classic 30 titles. Read more…
Yesterday, 4th Estate took a trip to the theatre, and we saw not one, but two fantastic adaptations of our books. The Royal Shakespeare company has adapted the undeniably sensational Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies by double Man Booker Prize winner Dame Hilary Mantel, bringing to the stage two equally gripping, imaginative and thought-provoking pieces of theatre that are truly unforgettable. Read more…
We’re thrilled to present the stunning cover design for Hilary Mantel’s The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher, out on the 25th September this year.
What do Patti Smith, Hilary Mantel and photos of Dublin have in common? They all feature on this week’s Five from 4th Estate, of course. Five online things to kick off the weekend. What could be sweeter? Read more…
