This is one of those bad Mondays when nothing we read for the rest of the week could be anywhere near as good as what we just put down, which was Bring Up the Bodies, the sequel to Wolf Hall by the peerless Hilary Mantel. Latecomers need to know that Wolf Hall took us into the mind and daily grind of Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s most capable enabler. Groundwork was laid for this fantastic project by C.J. Sansom in his Matthew Shardlake novels which we continue to recommend. Thank goodness there is to be a third volume, although it can only end badly, as we must all know by now.
We continue to be peeved about our staff who have refused to read the earlier Mantel stuff which is every bit as brilliant even if it’s more than a bit weird and nowhere near the Renaissance. We’re particularly fond of Beyond Black.
What is it with people who refuse to read historical fiction?
-Nemo Wolfe
Don’t despair, Nemo. You have at least one loyal subordinate on your staff: I read Beyond Black and I loved it.
From Carcasonne which is crawling with tourists who have no idea what the Cathar heresy involved—- the
Past isn’t dead, it’s gone into tourism. Mantel is one of the scariest writers alive. Who else could give Cromwell his due?