Do you need to read Wolf Hall before Bring Up the Bodies?
Mantel’s “Bring Up the Bodies”: Yes, you can read it cold. Knowledge of “Wolf Hall” is not a prerequisite to appreciating what “Bring Up the Bodies” describes, because Ms. Mantel sets up her new book so gracefully.
Table of Contents
Why is it called Bring Up the Bodies?

The title of Hilary Mantel’s Bring Up the Bodies, we learn late in the narrative, is a legal phrase, the command to court officials instructing them to deliver to their trial men who, because they are accused of treason, are regarded as already dead: “The order goes to the Tower, ‘Bring up the bodies.
Is there a sequel to Bring Up the Bodies?
The Mirror and the LightBring Up the Bodies / Followed byThe Mirror & The Light is an historical novel by the English writer Hilary Mantel. Following Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, it is the final instalment in her trilogy charting the rise and fall of Wikipedia
Is Hilary Mantel historically accurate?
No. It is a novel,” Guy said. He said Mantel’s depiction of More was over the top and “too stark for my tastes”, but it was more scary that the writing was so good that some people think it is true. Mantel has never claimed her novels are anything but fiction, although based on fact and exhaustive research.

Is Wolf Hall difficult to read?
The writing style of Wolf Hall is idiosyncratic and thus I found it hard to get into, at first. I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that I am terrible with identifying narrative styles unless they are pretty basic: first person present tense, first person past tense, etc.
What is happening in Bring Up the Bodies?
Hilary Mantel’s Bring Up the Bodies follows the dramatic trial of the queen and her suitors for adultery and treason. To defeat the Boleyns, Cromwell must ally with his natural enemies, the papist aristocracy. What price will he pay for Anne’s head? His children are falling from the sky.
How did Bring Up the Bodies end?
‘ The end of Bring Up the Bodies leaves us with the stage set for Cromwell the avenger of Wolsey himself to be encircled and destroyed. He has removed his former allies the Boleyns, and is left trying to make alliances with the unreliable Seymours.
Which comes first Wolf Hall or Bring Up the Bodies?
What is the Wolf Hall trilogy? The Wolf Hall trilogy is comprised of three books: Wolf Hall (2009), Bring up the Bodies (2012) and The Mirror and the Light (3 March, 2020). It is also sometimes referred to as the Thomas Cromwell series but Hilary Mantel officially refers to it as the Wolf Hall trilogy.
Was Thomas Cromwell a good person?
THOMAS CROMWELL was among the most ruthless and manipulative men ever to hold office in England, a death merchant for the deranged, fickle Henry VIII, who killed and persecuted thousands of innocent men for obeying their conscience and the tenets of their religion.
Is Thomas Cromwell a real person?
Thomas Cromwell (/ˈkrɒmwəl, -wɛl/; c. 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English lawyer and statesman who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false charges for the execution.
Which comes first Wolf Hall or bring up the bodies?
Why is it called Wolf Hall?
Title. The title comes from the name of the Seymour family seat at Wolfhall or Wulfhall in Wiltshire; the title’s allusion to the old Latin saying Homo homini lupus (“Man is wolf to man”) serves as a constant reminder of the dangerously opportunistic nature of the world through which Cromwell navigates.
Who is the narrator in Bring Up the Bodies?
Bring Up the Bodies
First edition | |
---|---|
Author | Hilary Mantel |
Audio read by | Simon Vance |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Will there be a TV series of the mirror and the light?
Hilary Mantel’s ‘The Mirror and the Light’ BBC Adaptation Will Continue as a ‘Memorial’ to Great British Author (EXCLUSIVE)
What is the significance of Wolf Hall?
The title comes from the name of the Seymour family seat at Wolfhall or Wulfhall in Wiltshire; the title’s allusion to the old Latin saying Homo homini lupus (“Man is wolf to man”) serves as a constant reminder of the dangerously opportunistic nature of the world through which Cromwell navigates.
Does the Cromwell family still exist?
There are many people alive today who are directly descended from Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell had nine children, six of whom survived well into adulthood and married. Although Mary’s marriage proved childless, in due course the other five had children of their own.
Why did Thomas Cromwell want to get rid of Anne Boleyn?
Not only had she so far failed to give him the son he craved, but she had acted in an ‘unqueenly’ manner, with her frequent outbursts and her refusal to put up with her husband’s affairs ‘as her betters had done.
Does sweating sickness still exist?
Sweating sickness stopped as quickly as it started. The last epidemic was in 1551. About 150 years later, a seeming variant called the Picardy Sweat popped up in France, but neither strain has reappeared. That makes it difficult for modern-day scientists and historians to study.
What is the sweating sickness in Wolf Hall?
The new disease was given the name hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS). And, as in Tudor times, rich people were more likely to be victims.
What historical period was the novel Bring Up the Bodies set in?
Book Details
The sequel to Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel’s 2009 Man Booker Prize winner and New York Times bestseller, Bring Up the Bodies delves into the heart of Tudor history with the downfall of Anne Boleyn. Though he battled for seven years to marry her, Henry is disenchanted with Anne Boleyn.
Is there a follow up series to Wolf Hall?
Bring Up the Bodies is an historical novel by Hilary Mantel; sequel to the award-winning Wolf Hall; and part of a trilogy charting the rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell, the powerful minister in the court of King Henry VIII. It won the 2012 Booker Prize and the 2012 Costa Book of the Year.
Will there be a TV sequel to Wolf Hall?
But we do, finally, have official confirmation that Wolf Hall Season 2 is officially happening. At some point. Charlotte Moore, the BBC’s Director of Content, told the Radio Times that a sequel to the award-winning 2015 original series is officially in the works.
What happens at the end of Wolf Hall?
King Henry takes Anne to France where, finally secure in her position, she and Henry marry in a private ceremony and consummate their relationship. She quickly becomes pregnant and Henry has her crowned queen in a ceremony which Cromwell organises with his usual perfection.
Who is the emperor referred to in Wolf Hall?
Holy Roman Emperor Charles V
The Emperor and his Ambassador
The Emperor to whom reference is often made but is never seen is Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. He is Queen Catherine’s nephew and this is a major headache for Henry as he seeks to engineer a divorce, partly because Charles is holding the Pope prisoner after the 1527 Sack of Rome.
Is Queen Elizabeth Related to Cromwell?
The royal in question is the Duchess of Kent, who married into The Royal Family in 1961. The Duchess, who prefers to be styled simply as ‘Katharine Kent’, is the great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandaughter of Oliver Cromwell.