Tag Archives: Tudor History

Wolf Hall Companion (2020) by Lauren Mackay

An accessible and authoritative companion to the bestselling Wolf Hall trilogy by Hilary Mantel, published after the third and final book, The Mirror and the Light.

Wolf Hall Companion gives an historian’s view of what we know about Thomas Cromwell, one of the most powerful men of the Tudor age and the central character in Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy.

Covering the key court and political characters from the books, this companion guide also works as a concise Tudor history primer. Alongside Thomas Cromwell, the author explores characters including Anne Boleyn, Thomas Cranmer, Jane Seymour, Henry VIII, Thomas Howard, Cardinal Wolsey and Richard Fox. The important places in the court of Henry VIII are introduced and put into context, including Hampton Court, the Tower of London, Cromwell’s home Austin Friars, and of course Wolf Hall. The author explores not only the real history of these people and places, but also Hilary Mantel’s interpretation of them.

Having read Hilary Mantel’s trilogy – most of it – and experiencing some confusion about historical events, I was thrilled to see this book mentioned in a discussion of Tudor history and couldn’t snag it fast enough.

It’s a short book, but it fits the bill perfectly by highlighting instances where Mantel used literary license and when she was true to historical fact. There are also plenty of examples in between as well as historical background for some characters who could have been a bit hazy by only Mantel’s telling.

And while it’s short, it’s not light on content. It was definitely not a quick read as it encourages some back and forth with Mantel’s books and others to get the full story on any given person or event. The “Further Reading” section has several Cromwell biographies as well as general Tudor histories listed. There’s also a comprehensive index – impressive for such a short book.

All in all this was a very enjoyable and informative read, but definitely not a quickie.

4/5

Lady Jane Grey: A Tudor Mystery by Eric Ives

Lady Jane Grey: A Tudor MysteryWhile I liked the book, it was not an easy read. I think it could have benefited *greatly* from an editor. Keep in mind, too, that I am an American reading a book on English history. A Brit might not have so much trouble with it?

This is the first Ives book I’ve read — I have a few more in the TBR pile, though — and I probably should have picked a different one for the first time out. I’ll find out soon enough when I start the next one.

If you aren’t seriously up-to-speed on 16th century English history, geography and naming conventions, you’re going to struggle here. You need to already know what he’s talking about to know what he’s talking about. The first few chapters, especially, are very confusing and seem to assume that “everyone already knows this stuff.” At this point, I considered not finishing the book. I’m glad I stuck with it, though, because it was easier to follow after the first section or two, but it never gets easy.

It was tough enough keeping up with the various Dudleys, Greys, Howards, etc. — not just parents and siblings, but also in-laws, nieces, nephews and distant cousins. But then he refers to them sometimes by their titles, sometimes by their given names, and does this while writing about several people from several families all in the same paragraph — sometimes in the same sentence.

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