A long book, a small group, and a short discussion....
The sense was that people liked the book...but couldn't finish it in just three weeks.
Not an easy book to read in short snatches...what with all of the Thomases, Lords, etc. A book for leisurely vacation days. With time to check the historic events. Much of the discussion compared historic events with events in Wolf Hall. Broad historic outline syncs up with the novel.
Some comments:
Wolf Hall is a rebuttal of A Man for All Seasons ... Cromwell is a modern, humanist hero who is a loving mentor and father; and a loyal straight-forward advisor to both Cardinal Wolsey and the King.
Why did Mantel make Cromwell the hero? Does she identify with him? Here are some parallels...
Mantel says that at 12 she lost her religious faith. Her Cromwell questions religious practices and beliefs such as purgatory.
Mantel was poor and raised in a small village which she is quoted as saying:" ...was a bleak place, dominated by gossip: harsh people in a harsh moorland landscape." Cromwell's childhood was bleak.
Mantel studied the law--as did Cromwell.
Both traveled the world...
Members enjoyed the humor and the language in Wolf Hall (there was a short discussion on anachronistic language...why did she use such modern English...but the thread was dropped.) Absent member was quoted as saying she loves Mantel... Definitely an author to explore further.
OH YES...
The Wolf Hall title comes from a Latin variation on the phrase dog eat dog world...the exact wording of which has slipped away ... there are many wolves ready to devour each other in Henry's kingdom. And too, from the name of the manor home of Anne Boleyn's replacement--Jane Seymour.
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