Hilary Mantel

The Mirror and the Light

‘If you cannot speak truth at a beheading, when can you speak it?’ England, May 1536. Anne Boleyn is dead, decapitated in the space of a heartbeat by a hired French executioner. As her remains are bundled into oblivion, Thomas Cromwell breakfasts with the victors. The blacksmith’s son from Putney emerges from the spring’s bloodbath to continue his climb to power and wealth, while his formidable master, Henry VIII, settles to short-lived happiness with his third queen, before Jane dies giving birth to the male heir he most craves. Cromwell is a man with only his wits to rely on; he has no great family to back him, no private army. Despite rebellion at home, traitors plotting abroad and the threat of invasion testing Henry’s regime to breaking point, Cromwell’s robust imagination sees a new country in the mirror of the future. But can a nation, or a person, shed the past like a skin? Do the dead continually unbury themselves? What will you do, the Spanish ambassador asks Cromwell, when the king turns on you, as sooner or later he turns on everyone close to him? With The Mirror and the Light, Hilary Mantel brings to a triumphant close the trilogy she began with Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. She traces the final years of Thomas Cromwell, the boy from nowhere who climbs to the heights of power, offering a defining portrait of predator and prey, of a ferocious contest between present and past, between royal will and a common man’s vision: of a modern nation making itself through conflict, passion and courage.

A Novel

The Mirror & the Light

Rheanne Wong 

Yes,' he said, 'but we never do it. None of us. We have all read the sermons. We could write them ourselves. But we are vain and amo tious all the same, and we never do live quiet, because we rs morning and we feel the blood coursing in our veins and we by the Holy Trinity, whose head can I stamp on today? What worlds are at hand for me to conquer? Or at least we think, if God made me a crewman on his ship of fools, how can I murder the drunken captain, and steer it to port and not be wrecked’?

Our possessions outlast us, surviving shocks that we cannot; we have to live up to them, as they will be our witnesses when we are gone. 

The night is warm, but Christophe has lit a small, crackling fire, and set the perfume pan to burn. Sweet herbs, frankincense: these drive contagion in any season. A bank of beeswax candles, ready for touch of a taper; ink at his hand, his day-book ready on the tale turned to a blank leaf in case he wakes and remembers something for tomorrow's list. I think I shall rest tonight, he says to Christophe, and Christophe says, the ambassador has long departed, even Call-Me is turned out, Master Richard is at home with his wife, the king is saying his prayers, or perchance he labours with the queen to please her: birds have tucked their heads beneath their wings, the prisoners of London are snoring in the Tower and the Marshalsea, the Clink and the Fleet. In the precincts of Austin Friars, Dick Purser has loosed the watchdogs. God is in His Heaven. The bolts are on the gates.

Instead, His providence has given us dyers, and the materials for their craft. Here in the city, amid dun and slate, donkey's back and mouse, gold quickens the heart; on those days of grey swilling rain that afflict London in every season, we are reminded of Heaven by a flash of celestial blue. Just as the soldier looks up to the flutter of bright banners, so the workman on his daily trudge rejoices to see his betters shímmer above him imperial purple, in silver and flame and halcyon against the wash of the English sky.

The brilliant #1 New York Times bestseller With The Mirror & the Light, Hilary Mantel brings to a triumphant close the trilogy she began with her peerless, Booker Prize-winning novels, Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. She traces the final years of Thomas Cromwell, the boy from nowhere who climbs to the heights of power, offering a defining portrait of predator and prey, of a ferocious contest between present and past, between royal will and a common man’s vision: of a modern nation making itself through conflict, passion and courage. The story begins in May 1536: Anne Boleyn is dead, decapitated in the space of a heartbeat by a hired French executioner. As her remains are bundled into oblivion, Cromwell breakfasts with the victors. The blacksmith’s son from Putney emerges from the spring’s bloodbath to continue his climb to power and wealth, while his formidable master, Henry VIII, settles to short-lived happiness with his third queen, Jane Seymour. Cromwell, a man with only his wits to rely on, has no great family to back him, no private army. Despite rebellion at home, traitors plotting abroad and the threat of invasion testing Henry’s regime to the breaking point, Cromwell’s robust imagination sees a new country in the mirror of the future. All of England lies at his feet, ripe for innovation and religious reform. But as fortune’s wheel turns, Cromwell’s enemies are gathering in the shadows. The inevitable question remains: how long can anyone survive under Henry’s cruel and capricious gaze? Eagerly awaited and eight years in the making, The Mirror & the Light completes Cromwell’s journey from self-made man to one of the most feared, influential figures of his time. Portrayed by Mantel with pathos and terrific energy, Cromwell is as complex as he is unforgettable: a politician and a fixer, a husband and a father, a man who both defied and defined his age.

Andrew John Kinney

I was very disappointed in this book after loving the first two. I DNF'd it about halfway through because there are better ways to spend my time than on a book that cannot move faster than this one. I had put it aside, thinking to come back to it in 6-9 months and find I had a different response to it, but no, it's exactly as I remembered it.

Eva Bailey

What a journey. I LOVED these three books. They were definitely a challenge for me and not my usual genre but im so glad I picked them up, this book was a brilliant conclusion to an epic series.

Fraser Simons

As always, I love the prose but find it could almost be set in any genre because of the glaring lack of description. Feels like play in prose form, which I dig. But for me, these books are always a mix. I love the flow and absolutely adore the dialogue. But then I get pulled out of the text all of the time because I legitimately have no idea where they are, what they look like, or what they’re wearing in some scenes. 

Generally, scene setting is very small and I think there is a very large assumption as to what the reader can fill in automatically. Having no familiarity with the time period, I am basically always a spectator, rather than an active participant.

The brilliant #1 New York Times bestseller Named a best book of 2020 by The New York Times, The Washington Post, TIME, The Guardian, and many more With The Mirror & the Light, Hilary Mantel brings to a triumphant close the trilogy she began with her peerless, Booker Prize-winning novels, Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. She traces the final years of Thomas Cromwell, the boy from nowhere who climbs to the heights of power, offering a defining portrait of predator and prey, of a ferocious contest between present and past, between royal will and a common man’s vision: of a modern nation making itself through conflict, passion and courage. The story begins in May 1536: Anne Boleyn is dead, decapitated in the space of a heartbeat by a hired French executioner. As her remains are bundled into oblivion, Cromwell breakfasts with the victors. The blacksmith’s son from Putney emerges from the spring’s bloodbath to continue his climb to power and wealth, while his formidable master, Henry VIII, settles to short-lived happiness with his third queen, Jane Seymour. Cromwell, a man with only his wits to rely on, has no great family to back him, no private army. Despite rebellion at home, traitors plotting abroad and the threat of invasion testing Henry’s regime to the breaking point, Cromwell’s robust imagination sees a new country in the mirror of the future. All of England lies at his feet, ripe for innovation and religious reform. But as fortune’s wheel turns, Cromwell’s enemies are gathering in the shadows. The inevitable question remains: how long can anyone survive under Henry’s cruel and capricious gaze? Eagerly awaited and eight years in the making, The Mirror & the Light completes Cromwell’s journey from self-made man to one of the most feared, influential figures of his time. Portrayed by Mantel with pathos and terrific energy, Cromwell is as complex as he is unforgettable: a politician and a fixer, a husband and a father, a man who both defied and defined his age.

Bassel Katamish

Finally finished this behemoth after a very enjoyable month of reading. This is a near-perfect ending to a near-perfect trilogy. Historical fiction at its finest.

jiaqi kang

Kwan Ann Tan

Truly amazing that even though you know what's going to happen at the end, you can't help but hope and wish that Cromwell does not die, and that Henry will somehow, some way change his mind (no, this is not a spoiler, we all knew this). 

I only wish we had seen more of Jane's presence in the book and her rule- we are reminded so often that she is quiet, but given how much we saw of Anne Boleyn in the first two books, I can't help but wish there were more interactions between Jane and Cromwell! 

The rest- Henry's endless marriages, Cromwell's own rising higher and higher on the wheel of fate only to fall so abruptly (I didn't know that he was made an Earl literally months before his death!), the same affairs and court troubles. 

The very first pages of Cromwell's fixation with Anne Boleyn's beheading already sets the tone for the entire book, and brings the whole story full circle. There are endless echoes within echoes, repetitions of the previous books as we are reminded that we already know this story, but the consequences and stakes are so much higher.

Rose Stanley

You know those books you do and don't want to finish at the same time? This is one of those.

The perfect end to a superb trilogy. I look forward to reading all three volumes again one day.

Well, I did it! I finally finished the series. Good riddance, Booker Prizes!

Is this the best book I've ever read? No, not really. I think it was a good ending to the series. I also think that it is pretty bloated, and I wish Mantel had abbreviated some of the history to make it more Cromwell focused.

That said, I didn't want to stop listening to the audiobook at about halfway through. the last 3 hours when stuff got intense for Cromwell, I was actually on the edge of my seat, despite knowing the outcome from history. She pulled it off well. But, that's out of an almost 39 hour audiobook. Was the other 36 hours (or 18 hours at 2x speed) really worth the time? I don't know.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, this seems like a series geared towards the history buff who would like to feel like they're standing next to the historical figures. As an American with no real emotional ties either way, I just wanted to press fast forward. And at 2x speed, I wanted a more fast forwarding speed. But I appear to be in a minority, because this is making the rounds for literary prizes.

Lucy Hacker

One of the most incredible books I’ve ever read - an absolute masterpiece.

Andrea

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Kylie Frazer

Shortlisted for The Women's Prize for Fiction 2020 The long-awaited sequel to Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, the stunning conclusion to Hilary Mantel's Man Booker Prize-winning Wolf Hall trilogy. 'A masterpiece' Guardian 'It is a book not read, but lived' Telegraph 'Her Cromwell novels are, for my money, the greatest English novels of this century' Observer 'If you cannot speak truth at a beheading, when can you speak it?' England, May 1536. Anne Boleyn is dead, decapitated in the space of a heartbeat by a hired French executioner. As her remains are bundled into oblivion, Thomas Cromwell breakfasts with the victors. The blacksmith's son from Putney emerges from the spring's bloodbath to continue his climb to power and wealth, while his formidable master, Henry VIII, settles to short-lived happiness with his third queen, Jane Seymour. Cromwell is a man with only his wits to rely on; he has no great family to back him, no private army. Despite rebellion at home, traitors plotting abroad and the threat of invasion testing Henry's regime to breaking point, Cromwell's robust imagination sees a new country in the mirror of the future. But can a nation, or a person, shed the past like a skin? Do the dead continually unbury themselves? What will you do, the Spanish ambassador asks Cromwell, when the king turns on you, as sooner or later he turns on everyone close to him? With The Mirror and the Light, Hilary Mantel brings to a triumphant close the trilogy she began with Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. She traces the final years of Thomas Cromwell, the boy from nowhere who climbs to the heights of power, offering a defining portrait of predator and prey, of a ferocious contest between present and past, between royal will and a common man's vision: of a modern nation making itself through conflict, passion and courage.

The Mirror and the Light

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