From romantic and diplomatic turmoil to religious upheaval and reformation, the reign of Henry VIII was undoubtedly colourful.
Mention of the Tudor monarch might bring to mind that famed Holbein portrait of a colossus of a king, or maybe it takes one back to that school-room rhyme of ‘divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived’ that forever defines his kingship as one of multiple marriages.
Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy finishes with the intricately woven, masterfully told The Mirror and the Light. While it is the third in the series, it also stands alone as an epic novel in its own right. Thomas Cromwell is the lens through which we view the ins and outs of Henry VIII’s reign. We are privy to his dialogue also to his private thoughts and feelings. The trilogy of books lives through his consciousness, and ends as he takes his last breath. As Lord Privy Seal, he is – aside from the King – the most powerful person in the country, and we watch him juggle both national and global concerns amidst the constant double-dealings and challenges of the peerage who surround him. He is the son of a blacksmith, and his rise to being Henry’s confidante continuously causes outrage and disbelief amongst the aristocratic families that jostle to be in the king’s inner circle.
