I am happy to say: yes, it has been
worth the wait. (Review by Margaret von Klemperer, courtesy of The Witness)
Has
it been worth the wait? Since the 2012 publication of Bring Up the Bodies, the second volume of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy, I have been among the
many waiting anxiously for the final book. It wasn’t that we didn’t know the
outcome – anyone with even the vaguest knowledge of Tudor history knows Thomas
Cromwell is destined to go the way of many of Henry VIII’s friends, enemies,
relations and wives and be executed – but we wanted Mantel’s skilled take on
the matter. And I am happy to say: yes, it has
been worth the wait.
The Mirror and the Light opens with the execution of
Anne Boleyn. Cromwell, as Henry’s fixer, has been instrumental in bringing this
about, but, as with so many of his actions, not from conviction but through his
ability to think on his feet and react to the whims of his terrifyingly
unpredictable master. However, his position is a precarious one: he has no
great family or aristocratic background behind him. He is self-made, from the
humblest of roots, ruthless, dangerous but deeply thoughtful. Historically,
Cromwell has always been something of an enigma: Hans Holbein’s portrait,
piggy-eyed and jowly, has played into the myth.
So
Mantel has had space to create a version of her central character which is
completely believable, frightening, but also able to command our sympathy and
even our affection. Right from the start she builds an atmosphere of danger
around Cromwell, even when he seems all-powerful. All the way through she
ratchets up the tension of life lived on a knife-edge, of a world that moves
from one crisis to another and inevitably wears down the protagonist. Whether
it is Henry’s marital adventures, civil unrest, warring factions at the court,
it all lands at Cromwell’s door. And who can he trust?
The
English politics of the 16th Century were bedevilled by religion and a
dubiously legitimate regime. Henry was only the second Tudor monarch, and the
Tudor dynasty was by no means assured. Turbulent times call for drastic
measures, and while Cromwell was expected to supply them, he was always aware
that they could be turned on him. More and more as time wears on, he thinks
back to his violent and unloved childhood and to his self-creation while a
wanderer in Europe. Maybe it explains him – though does it excuse him? It is
for the reader to decide.
Mantel
won the Booker prize for both preceding volumes. Of course, the question is
being asked – will she win it again. The length of the book, at nearly 900
pages, may be a problem, and much as I loved it, it does flag a little in the middle.
But I hope she does, for the entire trilogy is a monumental achievement, and
shows how compelling and brilliant historical fiction can be in the right
hands. Some years ago, Pat Barker won for The
Ghost Road, the concluding part of her Regeneration
trilogy. She was an outsider in the literary world, and it was perhaps an
acknowledgement that she should have won for Regeneration, still to my mind the finest historical novel of World
War 1. Mantel is an insider: I hope that will give her well-deserved wins for
all three parts of her trilogy.
The Mirror and the Light is published by 4th Estate
- Margaret von Klemperer
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