Booker Prize Winner: A Review of Bring Up the Bodies

I am on a roll right here. Two Man Booker prize-winning novels in a row. That usually never happens. Usually award-winning books are such powerful experiences, that I need to take a break to clean up my mind a bit.

But Bring up the Bodies hardly feels like a Booker Prize winner. It’s fast-paced, taut, and very tense, which is surprising for a historical novel.

And yes, the language is out of the mind beautiful. But Mantel is not an author in love with her writing. At no point does the wonderful writing overshadow the story.

And what a story it is!

Note: If you are not already familiar with the story of Henry VIII and his six wives and are not comfortable with the politics and people of the time, this book and this review will make no sense to you.

And now, on to the book itself.

Book Synopsis

Though he battled for seven years to marry her, Henry is disenchanted with Anne Boleyn. She has failed to give him a son, and her sharp intelligence and audacity will alienate his old friends and the noble families of England. Anne stands starkly exposed when the discarded Katherine dies in exile from the court, the focus of gossip and malice.

At a word from Henry, Thomas Cromwell is ready to bring her down. Over three terrifying weeks, Anne is ensnared in a web of conspiracy while the demure Jane Seymour stands waiting her turn for the poisoned wedding ring. But Anne and her powerful family will not yield without a ferocious struggle. To defeat the Boleyns, Cromwell must ally with his natural enemies, the papist aristocracy. What price will he pay for Anne’s head?

~ Synopsis from goodreads

Why I read this book

This is the second book in Hilary Mantel’s Cromwell trilogy. I had read, and loved the first book – Wolf Hall, but the ending was not compelling enough for me to rush into the second book. I think Wolf Hall started strong but was quite slow toward the end.

Anyway, I postponed reading Bring up the Bodies for the longest time. After all, why bother? The story of the rise and fall of Anne Boleyn has been done to death by various authors, and frankly, I am a bit tired of Henry VIII and his six wives.

But I decided to read it eventually because:

1. It’s a Man Booker winner, and I need to read it as part of my Man Booker reading challenge.
2. I loved Wolf Hall’s writing and thought I’d like this book just for the language alone.

My Review

I already told you I loved this book, and I loved it so much because of the wonderful writing. Mantel knows how to get us into her characters’ heads and make us understand why they do what they do.

I have always regarded Cromwell as the villain of the piece. But as I read this, I could see where he came from.

Anne Boleyn has proved to be a disappointing queen. She didn’t give birth to the promised Princes, and her very existence alienated Spain and Rome – two major powers at the time.

And then, Henry gets infatuated with Jane – seemingly a more manageable girl, who will take instruction from Cromwell and the King. When Henry starts to ponder:

“What,” he now wonders, “if there is some flaw in my marriage to Anne, some impediment, something displeasing to Almighty God?”

Cromwell, who has heard these words just three years before and is well aware of what happened to his predecessor, Wolsey, who failed in the King’s previous divorce, knows that he needs to act and act fast.

There is an interesting throwaway sentence in the book that illuminates why Cromwell elected to prove infidelity and get a death sentence. He muses on a book he has recently read—The Prince by Machiavelli—and thinks that he doesn’t entirely agree with Machiavelli’s viewpoints.

But it seems like he took a few crucial points because his steps to get rid of Anne are incredibly Machiavellian.

So, yes, this book does give a fantastic insight into why Anne’s downfall was necessary.

However, we don’t get a clear picture of Anne. Anne is pretty unlikeable – driven, vengeful, and bitter from the little we see. But was she guilty of these charges? Did she have lovers, including her brother? You wouldn’t know from reading this book.

Most historians agree that the charges against Anne were flimsy and manufactured.

However, Mantel herself never takes a stand on these charges. Because the story is told from Cromwell’s point of view, we don’t know what Anne did, and to Cromwell, it doesn’t matter – it only matters what he can convict her of.

Once her guilt is understood, Cromwell must find the men to frame her with. He finds them in four courtiers, who mocked Wolsey in a court pantomime after his death.

Quickly, the four men – Mark Smeaton, Henry Norris, William Brereton, Francis Weston, and the Queen’s brother, George– are interrogated in the Tower. The interrogation is a masterpiece in which Cromwell reminds each man of his sins and slights against Cromwell and Wolsey before he charges them with infidelity with Anne.

A trumped-up case and charges later, it’s now time for the beheading. Anne’s beheading is poetic, almost beautiful.

There is a groan, one single sound from the whole crowd. Then a silence, and into that silence, a sharp sigh or a sound like a whistle through a keyhole: the body exsanguinates, and its flat little presence becomes a puddle of gore.

Aah, now you understand what I mean when I say this is so well-written, don’t you? Only a genius like Mantel could make that brutal blood-shedding sound so lovely.

And now, I am officially in love with Mantel’s writing, and till the next book in the trilogy comes out, I am looking to read other books from her. I don’t see many reviews of Mantel’s other books, so I am unsure where to start. Have you read any of her other non-Cromwell books? Would you care to recommend one to me?