Wolf Hall

Wolf Hall by Hillary Mantel is the first of two historical novels centering around the life of Thomas Comwell who was a key player during the reign of Henry VIII. The tale is vividly told and is highly recommended for fans of this period of history (think of the cable show The Tudors). The central drama in this novel is the divorce that Henry seeks from his wife Katherine so that he could be free to marry Anne Boleyn. The decision to pursue the divorce has geopolitical ramifications and ultimately impacts the power of the Roman Catholic Church in England. There are some extremely violent sequences where "heretics" are burned to death. The reader gets a real flavor for life during those times for both the royalty and the commoners. Overall, it was an excellent novel.