I'm not going to lie, I did not want to like the first book in Hilary Mantel's trilogy of Thomas Cromwell. When I first started reading it I found it dry and overly-complicated. The dialogue was often hard to follow and the plot seemed forced.
I cannot deny that Hilary Mantel is brilliant, as Wolf Hall is truly a brilliant book. But sometimes I found myself wondering if she lacked someone looking over her shoulder, not necessarily telling her to cut some things out, but to tighten things up. She just keeps writing. Thomas Cromwell is an incredibly interesting character and it's incredibly engaging to hear of King Henry VIII's England from his point of view. It's a truly exciting concept, and as someone who must be unbelievably geeky to enjoy English history so much, I'm OVERALL in love with this book - even when I find myself struggling to slop through it. It might not be an enjoyable read unless you already find yourself intrigued with Henry VIII and his court.
But wait! Move on to the second book in Mantel's planned trilogy about Thomas Cromwell's life and career and BOOM, BOOM! I say ... it picks up. I am completely, overtly, enthusiastically in love and enamored with her second book about Cromwell: the novel called Bring Up the Bodies. Sure enough the title of the first book, Wolf Hall, gives away what will happen in the second. Bring Up the Bodies picks up where the first book left off - at the Seymour's residence at Wolf Hall where the King is visiting for a portion of the summer, and Cromwell, of course, accompanies him. We all know, because history already gives the story away, that Henry will eventually get rid of his second wife, Anne Boleyn, in pursuit of Lady Jane Seymour - a woman that we know he considered to be his one true wife, as she was the only woman to give him his precious son. The lack of a son, as we know, from either Katherine or Anne is what has caused all the turmoil in his marriages from the get-go.
The book begins at Wolf Hall with a brief mention of the late Cardinal Wolsey - Cromwell's patron. The King laments the Cardinal's death as if he was not the one to cause it, but Thomas Cromwell (whom everyone knows loved the Cardinal) keeps a blank face. He has hardened since the first book, and is now accustomed to his position of power and is intent on keeping himself in the King's favor.
Now let's look at Thomas Cromwell's journey thus far. When Anne was crowned Queen, many religious reformists (looking to get away from the papist religion of Rome) looked to her as an opportunity. Likewise many men, when Cardinal Wolsey fell, thought that as Wolsey's servant, Cromwell would have been ruined. As Mantel eloquently writes: "When his wife and daughters died, you might have though his loss would kill him. But Henry has turned to him; Henry has sworn him in; Henry has put his time at his disposal and said, come, Master Cromwell, take my arm: through courtyards and throne rooms, his path in life is now made smooth and clear." His life has changed from one of struggle and strife to one where crowds scatter when he walks through any of the King's palaces. He is strong. He plays a large part in dissolving the monasteries and reforming the church to create a renewed church and a better country that is purged of liars and hypocrites.
He is also set in motion by Henry VIII in bringing the present Queen down when in fact he was part of what had brought her up. Right at the beginning of the book we know that this second novel will chronicle the downfall and eventual execution of Anne Boleyn and her supposed lovers. Henry immediately starts asking questions concerning the legitimacy of their marriage, as he still has not gotten a son by her. He asks these questions to Cromwell, who thinks to himself that he is like the Cardinal, "listening to the same conversation: only the queen's name then was Katherine." The only difference here, really, is that Cromwell is determined to succeed in fulfilling the King's desires whereas the Cardinal had failed.
Cromwell sees Cardinal Wolsey in the shadows and hears him speaking - "I saw you, [Cromwell], ... scratching your balls in the dawn and wondering at the violence of the king's whims. If he wants a new wife, fix him one. I didn't, and I am dead." It is at this moment that Cromwell decides that if he were ever to write a book, it would be called The Book Called Henry: how to read him, how to serve him, how best to preserve him. Cromwell is not only a survivor, but people, even his enemies, must admit that in being in close proximity to him they can learn something about his cunning wit, and as they say how to "put an edge" on any matter at hand.
Bring Up the Bodies, the sequel to Wolf Hall, also won the Man Booker Prize in 2012. This is the second book in what is to be a trilogy; the third book to be released sometime in the future. This trilogy attempts to chronicle the rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell, a powerful man in the court of Henry VIII. In this book I felt that we see a more confident Cromwell, as I've mentioned previously. We receive more clarification in terms of who is speaking, clear references to the past, repeated sayings or monikers, and everything is tied together neatly. I consider this to be a vast improvement on the first book and it goes along at a clipping pace, much preferred to the sometimes drawn out feeling of the first book. Either I'm right in my assessments, or I've just gotten used to the writing styling's of Hilary Mantel. Either way, I couldn't put this book down. Cromwell truly can be seen as the man who sold the King of England's soul.
Let's continue, though, with the brilliant plot of this book. Here we also see the first wife, Katherine, dying in exile, forbidden to see her only daughter the "Lady" Mary - no longer allowed to be called princess as long as Anne reigns. Cromwell and the former Queen have a very interesting chat, where he basically torments a dying woman by saying that it was not Henry, but her - Katherine - who split Christendom. He accuses her of choosing to obstruct Henry which forced his hand at separating from Rome. And as the two spar against one another we see that truly Cromwell is trying to get Katherine to reconcile with the King and bend to his will before her death, so that future blame and resentment will not fall on her daughter Mary when she dies. Katherine is a stubborn woman, but with her death many believe that finally a truce can be called between England and her nephew, the Emperor of Spain.
Katherine dies, but with her death questions arise. If Henry was to die before a son was born, who would lead England? And without the King's protection, Cromwell knows that he will most likely die as the mad scramble for who is to rule scuffles on. Additionally the pressure to remove Anne only grows stronger. Soon Anne is becoming the obstacle to peace, and Henry keeps going back to the plain, stupid, simple, quiet Jane Seymour. Cromwell must become friends with the Seymour's and some other prominent members of court, originally his enemies, in order to go about getting Anne ousted and ushering in Jane. All the while, Cromwell knows in the back of his mind that someday his own downfall will most likely occur, because as we've seen Henry is indeed an "inconstant lover." "You can be merry with the king, you can share a joke with him. But ... it's like sporting with a tamed lion. You tousle its mane and pull its ears, but all the time you're thinking, those claws, those claws, those claws."
Soon England grows more tense by the moment, and everyone in court is plotting against her, hoping to get the King's concubine out. After all, if Henry could get rid of his wife of 20 years, surely he can do it with Anne, his wife of 3 years. Cromwell, of course, will get it done, even if it makes him sick. Rumors are floating around of infidelity and soon it is apparent that the idea that Anne is unfaithful must be planted in Henry's head otherwise Cromwell risks leaving himself exposed to riotous rebuttals from the King.
Henry officially stops questioning Anne's loyalty and decides yes she must be removed. Rumors are spread that she committed incest with her brother, the haughty George. When it comes time for her arrest, she tells Cromwell "I made you," but in return she is told, "And Cromwell made you." Together they rose in power, and now together they come together to see her killed. Cromwell learned from Wolsey that one must gratify the king or it will be your downfall. Anne couldn't give Henry a son, now he no longer feels love for her but he does feel love for another (Jane Seymour), and Anne refuses to go quietly (perhaps to a convent in France?), and so she starts a war that will test the strength of men's souls.
Anne takes down many a man with her including her own brother and she is even more forcefully viewed as a concubine or a common whore. Here we see Henry left with two supposedly "illegitimate" marriages, two bastard daughters, and even a bastard son whom he recognizes as his by a woman who he was not married to. In Anne's stubborness and determination to stay Henry's lawful wife, Cromwell goes on a search to find her "lovers," men that we soon find are guilty but not necessarily guilty of their charges. He has men who brought his patron, Cardinal Wolsey, down and when asked why he immediately took Mark Smeaton, a musician, down he replies simply "I don't like the way he looks at me." Funnily enough, Mark is the only man who actually admits to sleeping with and loving the Queen. However, the one man who is most likely actually guilty of some sort of treason through being with Anne is a friend of Cromwell's and therefore spared, despite many cries for justice against him. Cromwell stays loyal to those he considers true friends.
With Anne gone, Henry will be able to finally have a clean marriage and hopes to beget a son and an heir. As for Anne Boleyn, no one comes to her aid, and even the women who she thinks support her are secretly giving dispensations against her behind her back. Truly, Anne has furthered the cause of religious reform (a huge theme in this book), but nobody cares about that now that she's finally cast out. Cromwell must join sides with his enemies - those who are loyal to the Pope and Rome, while plotting to turn them away again once the deed of Anne's death is done so as to keep the reform of the Church of England in motion. When Anne's time finally does come to die, my energy in reading this book was stilled by a somber moment, the writing so well done that I finally feel sympathy for this fascinating snake of a woman, who failed in her greatest desire - being queen by gaining Henry's heart, and then keeping it. It filled me with grief.
Once, Cromwell thought he'd die of grief at the loss of his wife, his daughters, his sisters, his father and master the cardinal. "But the pulse, obdurate, keeps its rhythm. You think you cannot keep breathing, but your rib cage has other ideas, rising and falling, emitting sighs. You must thrive in spite of yourself; and so that you may do it, God takes out your heart of flesh, and gives you a heart of stone." Yes, Cromwell grows strong in this novel, that even with its horrors, politics and religions, you see moments of comedy from his hardened look on life. His realistic view of life lends itself to mocking those around him, and sometimes even himself. But as we look forward to third book in Hilary Mantel's Thomas Cromwell installment, we know his downfall is indeed coming, thanks to history.
George Boleyn, Anne's brother, puts a question to Cromwell as Cromwell is interrogating him about his affairs with his sister. George says: "Henry killed his father's Councillors. He killed the Duke of Buckingham. He destroyed the cardinal and harried him to his death, and struck the head off one of Europe's great scholars. Now he plans to kill his wife and her family and Norris who has been his closest friend. What makes you think it will be different with you, that are not the equal of any of these men?"
So, as we wait for the third book to be released ... by all means, bring up the bodies.
No comments:
Post a Comment