Cannonball Read 14

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Mantel Pieces – Hilary Mantel (2021)

Mantel Pieces by Hilary Mantel

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I will be honest, you have to be into this for the book to be enjoyable. I know that’s true about any book, but unlike a lot of essay collections from authors, whether they’re themed or not, this one is very particular about what it is, that it’s harder to dip in an out of this one like you might for a different kind of book. These are reprinted and collected essays from Hilary Mantel that she wrote for the London Review of Books, and […]

Playing chess in the dark

The MIrror and the Light by Hilary Mantel

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  “This is what Henry does. He uses people up.  He takes all they give him and more.  When he is finished with them he is noisier and fatter and they are husks or corpses.” Thomas Cromwell has given a lot to King Henry.  The Mirror and the Light starts with the husk of Anne Boleyn being turned into a corpse so that the King is free to move on to sweet Jane Seymour.  Cromwell has gotten rid of the wife he got for his […]

With great power comes great responsibility

A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel

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Colour me surprised to find out that what I thought was Uncle Ben’s quote was actually much older than that, hailing instead from the pen of journalist Camille Desmoulins during the French Revolution. While reading this and following the fates of Camille, lawyer Georges Danton and politician Maximilien Robespierre, I couldn’t help but be reminded over and over of another superhero quote, this time from Batman – “you either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become a villain.” None of the […]

Smash the Patriarchy

The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel

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The Mirror and the Light ends Hilary Mantel’s trilogy about the life of Thomas Cromwell, a commoner who rose to the heights of power serving Henry VIII only to die by the axe as a traitor. This third volume is a slog — 759 pages devoted to the last years of Cromwell’s life, from the summer 1536 to the summer of 1540. While volume two tripped along a good clip in its depiction of the fall of Anne Boleyn (always interesting to read about), this […]

But what have you done for me lately?

The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel

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What to say about this book? Mantel’s skill with words make mine seem utterly inadequate to express just how fantastic this book and the entire Cromwell trilogy is. The Mirror and the Light opens after the execution of Ann Boleyn and deals with the period from then until Cromwell’s death. This Cromwell is somewhat older and more experienced, and can see the sands shifting beneath his feet as he’s no longer able to give Henry what he wants, when he wants it, and the court […]

A Cinderella Story/The Godfather

Wolf Hall: A Novel by Hilary Mantel

Bring Up the Bodies: A Novel by Hilary Mantel

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After a prolonged break, Hilary Mantel finally returned to the Wolf Hall trilogy this year with The Mirror and the Light, the final installment in the fictionalized account of the rise and fall of the real Thomas Cromwell, a talented man who rose from humble beginnings to become Master Secretary and consigliere to King Henry VIII. I read the first two books when they came out (in 2009 and 2012) and thought they were fantastic. Both won numerous prestigious prizes including the Man Booker Prize […]



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