'The first lesson reading teaches is how to be alone'
With this historic win for BRING UP THE BODIES, Hilary Mantel becomes the first British author and the first woman to be awarded two Man Booker Prizes, as well as being the first to win with two consecutive novels. Continuing what began in the Man Booker Prize-winning WOLF HALL, we return to the court of Henry VIII, to witness the irresistible rise of Thomas Cromwell as he contrives the destruction of Anne Boleyn.
By 1535 Cromwell is Chief Minister to Henry, his fortunes having risen with those of Anne Boleyn. But the split from the Catholic Church has left England dangerously isolated, and Anne has failed to give the king an heir. Cromwell watches as Henry falls for plain Jane Seymour. Negotiating the politics of the court, Cromwell must find a solution that will satisfy Henry, safeguard the nation and secure his own career. But neither minister nor king will emerge unscathed from the bloody theatre of Anne's final days.
An astounding literary accomplishment, BRING UP THE BODIES is the story of this most terrifying moment of history, by one of our greatest living novelists.
Reviews of Bring up the Bodies
'This is a bloody story about the death of Anne Boleyn, but Hilary Mantel is a writer who thinks through the blood. She uses her power of prose to create moral ambiguity and the real uncertainty of political life…She has recast the most essential period of our modern English history; we have the greatest modern English prose writer reviving possibly one of the best known pieces of English history' Sir Peter Stothard, Chair of the judges for the Man Booker Prize 2012
'BRING UP THE BODIES is simply exceptional…I envy anyone who hasn't yet read it' Sandra Parsons, Daily Mail
'In another league. This ongoing story of Henry VIII's right-hand man is the finest piece of historical fiction I have ever read. A staggering achievement' Sarah Crompton, Sunday Telegraph
'BRING UP THE BODIES succeeds brilliantly in every particle…it's an imaginative achievement to exhaust superlatives' Spectator
'WOLF HALL was a tour de force, but its sequel is leaner, more brilliant, more shocking than its predecessor' Erica Wagner, The Times