For once, a non-business post after ages. Hope this makes for a good read…

Hilary Mantel’s second book on Thomas Cromwell is a stark portrayal of intrigue and politics, of people plotting against one another in their ambitions. Bring Up the Bodies, the Man Booker Prize winning sequel to Wolf Hall, itself a Man Booker Prize winner, is a gripping saga for those who appreciate Thomas Cromwell’s ways.

When the novel begins, circumstances in England are such that queen Anne Boleyn has not yet given birth to a baby boy, and the Tudor line of King Henry VIII is not secured. He wants another wife, his third after Katherine and Anne. Thomas Cromwell, as Master Secretary to the king, is assigned the task of clearing the way for the new queen. He arranges machinations in such a manner that a few young men at the court are alleged to have relationships with Anne. This is seen to be ground enough for the death knell to be sounded for the queen and the young men she favored. This, despite the fact that, over the last few years, Anne and Cromwell helped each other rise in the king’s eyes.

Readers of historical fiction will find the book interesting for the sheer amount of detail. The lay reader is sure to appreciate the perspective that the narration comes from: usually it is Cromwell whose perspective is narrated, so that the reader gets a good sense of what happens at the king’s court and what takes place in Cromwell’s mind. There are times when Cromwell misses Wolsey, a bishop of earlier times whom Anne plotted out of favor. There are also other poignant times when Cromwell thinks of his dead wife and daughters. But he has a way of making his facial expression “implacable” so that the other party does not get a clue to his feelings.

Mantel has her own particular way of playing with words, sometimes laden with meaning, sometimes implying something else. She uses metaphors and comparisons to drive the meaning in. For instance, the men at court who face the death penalty are phantoms, for they used to flit in and out of Anne’s privy chambers, and Cromwell is “master of phantoms.” And they are not even dead, when they become “bodies” for all practical purposes.

Overall, a good book, well worth the time spent. And quite a lot is spent, given the 400-odd pages loaded with words and meaning.

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P.S.: I had been hoping to read this book from the time it was released, since I had already read Wolf Hall. Hence imagine my happiness on finding this book at the first shelf in the first row at the library!