Wolf Hall review: Hilary Mantel's Booker winner brings Thomas Cromwell to life

Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall, published by Fourth Estate in 2009, won the Booker Prize that year and went on to be named the best book of the 21st century so far by The Guardian in 2019. It follows Thomas Cromwell, the blacksmith's son who became Henry VIII's most powerful adviser, and it changed how many readers think about historical fiction.

This spoiler-light review is based on the novel, its critical reception and reader feedback. It covers the premise, Mantel's distinctive style, how difficult the book is, the order of the trilogy and how it compares with the BBC adaptation.

What is Wolf Hall about? (No spoilers)

The novel opens with the young Thomas Cromwell being beaten by his father in Putney and then follows him as he builds a new life abroad and returns to England as a lawyer and fixer in the service of Cardinal Wolsey. By the late 1520s, Henry VIII wants his marriage to Katherine of Aragon annulled so he can marry Anne Boleyn, and Wolsey's position depends on delivering it.

Cromwell's rise takes place against that crisis. The history is well known, but Mantel's focus is on how power actually works: favours, loyalties, information and timing.

Mantel's style: why readers love it (and struggle with it)

Wolf Hall is written in the present tense and stays very close to Cromwell's point of view. Mantel often refers to him simply as "he", even when other men are in the scene, which is the single most common complaint from new readers. After a while it becomes natural, and in the sequels Mantel more often writes "he, Cromwell" to make it clear.

The payoff is intimacy. You see the Tudor court through a sharp, observant, often funny mind, and scenes that could feel like a history lesson feel immediate instead.

Is Wolf Hall hard to read?

It is demanding but not obscure. The prose is clear sentence by sentence; the difficulty comes from the pronouns, the big cast and the political detail. A few tips make a real difference:

• Use the cast list at the front of the book
• Assume that an unexplained "he" usually means Cromwell
• Read the first 100 pages in a few long sittings to settle into the voice
• Try the audiobook if the dialogue-heavy scenes feel hard to follow on the page

Characters and themes

Mantel's Cromwell is clever, loyal, pragmatic and capable of ruthlessness, a sharp contrast to his traditional image as a villain. Thomas More, often portrayed as a saint, appears here as a harder figure. Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII and Wolsey are drawn with nuance, and minor household characters are just as vivid.

The big themes are power, class, religion and self-invention. The novel asks how a man with no birthright survives in a world run by aristocrats, and what it costs him.

Wolf Hall trilogy reading order

The trilogy is best read in publication order. Wolf Hall (2009) is followed by Bring Up the Bodies (2012), which also won the Booker Prize, and The Mirror and the Light (2020). Bring Up the Bodies is shorter and faster, and many readers find it the most gripping of the three. Mantel died in 2022, so the trilogy is her final major work of fiction.

Wolf Hall book vs the TV series

The BBC adapted the first two novels in 2015, with Mark Rylance as Cromwell and Damian Lewis as Henry VIII, and followed with The Mirror and the Light in November 2024. The series is restrained, beautifully shot and very faithful in spirit. The Royal Shakespeare Company also staged the novels, with a Broadway transfer in 2015. The book offers far more of Cromwell's inner life, so watching the series first can be a good way into the story if the prose feels daunting.

Why Wolf Hall won the Booker Prize

Critics praised Wolf Hall for making an overfamiliar period feel new. Instead of kings and queens at the centre, Mantel puts a working man with a lawyer's mind in the foreground, and shows history as a series of negotiations, deals and conversations. The result reads less like a costume drama and more like a political thriller.

Besides the 2009 Booker Prize, the novel won the National Book Critics Circle Award in the US and the Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction in 2010. When Bring Up the Bodies also won the Booker in 2012, Mantel became the first woman to win the prize twice. In 2019 The Guardian named Wolf Hall the best book of the 21st century so far.

Key specs

Author

Hilary Mantel

First published

2009, Fourth Estate (UK)

Length

Around 650 pages (672 in the UK hardback)

Series

Book 1 of the Wolf Hall trilogy

Awards

Booker Prize 2009; National Book Critics Circle Award 2009; Walter Scott Prize 2010

Setting

England, roughly 1500 to 1535

Adaptations

RSC stage plays; BBC television series (2015, and The Mirror and the Light in 2024)

Alternatives to consider

• Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel: The shorter, tighter sequel that also won the Booker Prize.
• The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett: A more plot-driven medieval epic for readers who want pace over style.
• Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell: A lyrical, emotional historical novel set in Shakespeare's family home.

Frequently asked questions

Wolf Hall is not a quick or easy read, but it is one of the most rewarding historical novels of the modern era. Hilary Mantel turns a familiar story into something tense, funny and deeply human. If you are ready to spend time in Henry VIII's court, start here, and there is a very good chance you will go straight on to the rest of the trilogy.

How we research: Reviews are based on the maker’s specifications, published independent tests and owner reports. Scores compare the product with others in its class.