England, the 1520s. Henry VIII is on the throne, but has no
heir. Cardinal Wolsey is his chief advisor, charged with securing
the divorce the pope refuses to grant. Into this atmosphere of
distrust and need comes Thomas Cromwell, first as Wolsey's clerk,
and later his successor.
Cromwell is a wholly original man: the son of a brutal
blacksmith, a political genius, a briber, a charmer, a bully, a man
with a delicate and deadly expertise in manipulating people and
events. Ruthless in pursuit of his own interests, he is as
ambitious in his wider politics as he is for himself. His reforming
agenda is carried out in the grip of a self-interested parliament
and a king who fluctuates between romantic passions and murderous
rages.
From one of our finest living writers, Wolf Hall is that very
rare thing: a truly great English novel, one that explores the
intersection of individual psychology and wider politics. With a
vast array of characters, and richly overflowing with incident, it
peels back history to show us Tudor England as a half-made society,
moulding itself with great passion and suffering and courage.