Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall

Sue Zlosnik (Manchester Metropolitan University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.09: English Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary Britain , 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Kerry Myler (Newman University), Jenni Ramone (The Nottingham Trent University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 2009

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Historical
Novel

Resources

Hilary Mantel’s novel, Wolf Hall, was published in 2009. Mantel declared that it was intended to be the first book in a trilogy about Thomas Cromwell who rose to a position of great power at the court of Henry VIII, only to lose his head when he eventually fell out of favour. Its sequel, Bring up the Bodies, was published in 2012 and, like its predecessor, was awarded the Man Booker Prize. Wolf Hall’s success in 2009 signaled a revival of serious historical fiction, its subject matter representing a return to Mantel’s first impulse as a novelist. Her earliest novel, A Place of Greater Safety, was an epic treatment of the French Revolution, focused through the lives of its most famous figures; however, …

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2252 words

Citation: Zlosnik, Sue. "Wolf Hall". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 26 October 2012 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=26524, accessed 27 November 2024.]

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