Because of this, the first third of the book was really hard going for me. Then, I was just entranced by Thomas Cromwell. What a man. I love that the book gave equal mention of his professional and domestic life - ok, so he was still a boss at home but that he missed Liz (and his girls) so much for so long was just endearing...enough to forgive his work ethos and practices.
Thomas More was a revelation. He's a Catholic saint after all (which is about all I know of him anyway). I'm not here to judge but I love it when a book will give a different perspective of people and circumstances.
This was a seriously thick book and, for one not used to the genre, I did very well to enjoy it enough. I did wonder about the title for a long time and here's my interpretation of it.
- Wolf Hall for Incest - These English royals surely know how to dance in the sheets from palace to palace. This obviously happened in Wolf Hall itself, Henry with the Boleyn sisters, and almost with Cromwell, etc etc etc
- Wolf Hall alluding to wolves - More than once, Thomas reflected on man as wolf to man. There was certainly a lot of jockeying for position and real violence during his time. I guess it could even mean people acting in packs, following whoever is deemed the leader - so easily replaced so it seems.
- Wolf Hall as Wolf Hall - (This is my favourite) Jane Seymour = Wolf Hall in Cromwell's mind and the so-subtle admiration culminating on the final words of hope....a visit to Wolf Hall. Probably best to end it there because Jane eventually ended up with Henry and I really didn't want to know about that.
So that's my relatively brief thoughts on the very thick book. I don't think I need to go into the Boleyns here. I'd much rather explore Liz and Johanna....but who would write about them?
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