I think it took me so long to come around to finally writing a review about Wolf Hall because the text left me with little to say. What words could I possibly put here which would offer justice to this, one of the finest books I have ever read?

My slight historical obsession with Thomas Cromwell has not gone unnoticed by friends (spending twenty minutes standing before the Holbein depicting him, enraptured, almost alarmingly close to the portrait, in a gallery sort of gave the game away) and Hilary Mantel captures him here better than I could ever have imagined. She finds the fine nuances in his character and pulls them to the surface; making him sympathetic, vicious, intelligent, unyielding, caring, cold...the list goes on. It is his characterisation which truly stands out, though she also pulls Tudor England into each moment, weaving together the scenery and the action effortlessly.

If you like the works of Phillipa Gregory or Nora Lofts this probably won't be for you. The softer edge of their writing is lost in Mantel's wondrous, yet unforgiving, novel. Yet if you love the period, or have respect for the man, this telling of Cromwell's life (in minute detail) will captivate you as it did me.