I've tried and failed to read so much historical fiction because the writing quality often just isn't there. Ever genre has its standards, and it seems that historical fiction got its from the "bodice ripper" romance tradition - very overwrought phrasing, terrible dialogue, intrusive narration, and all-round poor sentence construction. It's why I've always liked the idea of historical fiction, but so rarely actually read it. 
 Mantel makes it clear that historical fiction can be well written, even excellently written. All the "he, Cromwell" repetition aside, this is an extremely well crafted novel about Cromwell's rise to power in Henry VIII's court. 
 There's some time hopping at the beginning, which is something of a pet peeve of mine. Not to mention that the beginning - when the reader is already disoriented and trying to work out who everyone is supposed to be - is the absolute worst time to fuddle with chronology like that! There are other ways to keep readers engaged through backstory! 
 But the time hopping seemed to fizzle out about a third of the way through, and the rest of the narrative was fairly straightforward. 
 I'm not particularly knowledgeable about Henry VIII's court, apart from the broad strokes outline and Moore's Utopia, and this was a fantastic primer. That world feels far more familiar and real to me now, and I appreciate that. 
 A common praise in reviews of this book is that Mantel does an excellent job of getting into Cromwell's head, and that is absolutely true. He feels like a complex, real, living person. His pains - particularly the loss of so much of his family to the 'sweating sickness' - are viscerally conveyed, as are his drives and his joys. 
 This is an excellent - if rather long - book that breathes life into the history it is based on.